Wildest Dreams
by roariloveyoux
Summary: She was given the chance of a lifetime. Studying abroad in America for one year. That was how long she was supposed to be there. Then the world had to take a literal shit. Now she's stuck in another country with no family or friends. Can she find a home among a group of survivors led by Rick Grimes? Is love still possible at the end of the world?
1. Chapter 1

Nothing within the Walking Dead universe belongs to me. That right is given to the wonderful writers. I do take credit for my character Meredith.

I'm doing my best to keep everyone in character. If someone seems too out of character please let me know! Criticism is always welcome! I have several chapters written already but I don't want to get ahead of myself so for now theres only one chapter. I may try to upload another later today/tomorrow!

Enjoy!

P.S This one is super short but it's just a little intro piece. More to come (:

P.P.S I'm looking for a possible nickname for Meredith. For now she gets called Red or Fire Cracker but I know Red is common for red heads. Does anyone have any suggestions?

* * *

**Name:** Meredith Lamont

**Age:** 25

**Height: **5'10

**Appearance:** Shoulder length red hair. Slender frame. Brown eyes. (Celebrity lookalike: Karen Gillan)

**Birthplace:** Edinburgh, Scotland

**Location during outbreak: **Emory University Atlanta, Georgia

**Surviving relatives: **Unknown

* * *

Meredith Lamont was only going to be in America for one year. As a writer she wanted to experience the world outside her home country of Scotland. The last thing she expected was to wake up to her roommate trying to eat her. Even worse she was now stuck in another country as the world was literally coming to an end.

She'd been attending Emory University in Atlanta Georgia as a writing major. She had a small two-bedroom apartment on the edge of the city with her new friend Lila. There wasn't a lot of room not nearly as much as the farm back home but Meredith had never felt any luckier. She had been accepted into a great university and had found someone willing to take in an international student.

Now everything had gone to shit. She didn't know what happened to her family or even the rest of the world. The news stopped playing days ago maybe even weeks. She had no real way of knowing what day it was.

Meredith wasn't an extremely religious person but she was a believer. She was raised to be a good Catholic girl and just like all Christians she knew what the rapture was. Flesh eating monsters was definitely not what she expected.

The news said the army was going to build a refugee center in the heart of Atlanta. Most of the other tenants of her building wanted to try and make it there. They thought it would be safer because of the army. None of them made it. Meredith watched a large number get ripped apart by the infected. Their insides became food for the living dead.

Those that made it to the refugee center were blasted apart. A couple days into the outbreak fighter jets flew over the city and dropped bombs. Meredith's part of the city had been spared only because it was near the edge of the city. There was no refugee center; no one was coming to save her.

Her parents taught her to be a fighter. Never give up. That's exactly what Meredith did. She found a weapon; an axe left behind by someone who was probably dead now and fought her way through the infected in her apartment. Not knowing the land well enough she chose to stay in the city.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter 2. The story is going to follow along starting with season1 with a few storyline changes. Enjoy!

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The sun sat high in the sky heating the ground below it. Sweat drops slid down Meredith's back. Running a hand across her face she wiped away the moisture. She wasn't used to how hot it got in Georgia. Her long red hair sat in a braid down her back but that didn't stop the little hairs from sticking to her neck.

She peered down at the department store from the rooftop across the street. It was one of the only buildings she hadn't been through. She didn't venture to that part of the city often. Most of the infected centralized around there. However she was becoming desperate for food and personal hygiene products. Just because the world ended didn't mean that time of the month didn't come around.

It looked like the infected had busted through the front windows of the building. There didn't seem to be that many rotting bodies shuffling around; just enough that she would have a hell of a fight to get inside. It was what was on the inside that worried her; she had no way of knowing how many were in there.

"Shite." Meredith ran her hand across the back of her neck. It never got this hot back in Scotland.

Shielding her eyes she glanced around the building. There had to be another way inside. The front door was clearly unreachable; a back door might be an option but she didn't know where it was. She'd probably end up fighting her way to an early grave.

Her answer came in the form of the fire escape. She could see the ladder in the alley next to the department building. If she could get passed the dead in the road it would be an easy trip to the top. The infected couldn't climb ladders.

"No!" Meredith paused. Had she heard someone yelling? She tilted her head slightly listening for any noises. There was no way someone was inside the city. She had to have been hallucinating.

Clutching her axe she climbed down the fire escape. She had to move quickly the sun wouldn't stay up forever. She didn't like to be outside when it got dark. Her brown combat boots thumbed softly on the cement. Spinning around she came face to face with a slightly decomposed face.

The woman's hair was sticking up in odd places. Her face had paled to a ghostly color but it was the eyes that unnerved Meredith. At one point they had to have been a bright green; now they were clouded over almost like she was blind. There were black and red pieces of something unknown sticking out between her teeth as she began to snarl at the red head before her. Reaching forward the infected tried grabbing at her. Saying a quick prayer for the thing before her she swung her axe up connecting with the infected's skull with a sickening crack.

Peering out of the alleyway Meredith took in the amount of infected between her and the department building. She could see the fire escape to the building directly across the street. All she needed to do was get into the next alley. There were four of the dead roaming casually in front of her.

Hoisting her backpack onto her shoulder Meredith rushed forward. She made it through the first two infected with no trouble. The third grasped at her blue button up shirt. Jerking away she dropped her bag and slid out of the shirt leaving her in just a black tank top. Swinging her axe around Meredith took the top half of the infected's head off.

The scuffle had caught the attention of not only the fourth infected but also a few down the street. Meredith swore under her breath as she noticed the infected gathering toward her. Only having enough time to grab her bag she ran into the alley. Using her axe to pull the fire escape ladder down Meredith quickly climbed up right as a pair of slimy hands grasped her boot.

She took a few seconds to catch her breath before glancing down. A small crowd had formed below her; she probably wouldn't be going to same way she came. Sliding her axe into her bag Meredith climbed the ladder. Her hands slid against the rungs due to how badly she had started to sweat. Of all the places she had to get stuck at during the end of the world it had to be one of the hottest.

The sound of voices reached her ears as she finished climbing over the edge of the ladder. A small group of men were huddled near the edge of the building. Two of them seemed to be arguing with each other. One of them looked to be dressed as a sheriff; he had his gun pointed at one of the others.

She continued to walk toward the group slowly pulling her axe out. There was no telling what would happen when they noticed her. Her eyes landed on the bloody scene before her. A set of handcuffs was lying on the ground. One side was locked to a long pipe attached to the roof. What caught her attention next nearly caused her small breakfast to come back up. A man's bloodied hand sat next to the handcuffs.

"Mother o' God." Her comment drew the attention of the group. The man the sheriff had been pointing his gun at spun around. He was in his early thirties with dark brown hair and a bit of scruff on his chin. His blue eyes narrowed at her as he pulled a large hunting knife out.

"Who the hell are you? Where's my brother?!"

Meredith raised her axe defensively in front of her. "Oi! Calm down. Ah don't know where your brother is."

"Daryl." It was the sheriff that spoke. He was standing behind Daryl with a stern look on his face. He was still pointing his gun toward the man. Daryl hesitated momentarily before dropping his hand.

Waiting until she was sure he wasn't going to raise his weapon again Meredith dropped her axe to her side. The sheriff stepped past Daryl as he was asking one of the other men about a do-rag. Fixing him with a weary look she clutched her axe and took a step back. He holstered his gun; raising his hands he motioned that he wasn't going to hurt her.

"No one's going to hurt you. My name is Rick Grimes. Who are you?"

"Meredith Lamont." The fourth man in their group stepped next to Rick. He cocked his head to the side slightly giving her a curious look.

"Where have you been hiding? I've been through this city dozens of times since the outbreak."

She cast the group a suspicious look. Even though Rick had stopped Daryl from stabbing her she still didn't trust them. She didn't have a lot of interactions with Americans especially since most of them were infected now.

"Ah move here an' there. Never the same place more than a day or two. Ah don't come to the center much."

"We ain't got time to be chatting!" Daryl brushed passed Meredith bumping her shoulder as he went. She stumbled forward slightly. He was following a trail of blood to another doorway ignoring the dark look she was giving him. "Merle!"

"We have to find his brother but we have a camp outside the city. You can come with us; it's safer out there. Not as many walkers."

Meredith glanced around the group silently. Rick and his small group seemed nice enough; except for maybe this Daryl guy. She'd been alone for so long the offer seemed tempting. However being alone worked for her. She didn't have to worry about keeping others alive.

"Ah appreciate the offer but Ah'm going to pass. Ah've made it this far on mah own."

Rick looked like he wanted to protest but thought better of it. After giving her detailed directions for where their camp was located should she change her mind and wishing her luck, Rick's group moved on to look for Merle.

Meredith strolled cautiously through the department store. Most of the infected were scattered across the floor with holes in their skulls. It looked like a lot of them had been taken care of by a crossbow. She was silently thanking the unpleasant man wielding the crossbow; it made things easier for her if she didn't have to constantly take care of the infected. The quicker she was able to get the things she needed the quicker she could get out of there.

Walking past the clothes section Meredith caught eye of a shirt similar to the one she lost out on the street. Grabbing her size she threw the shirt along with a few extras into her bag. Most of the food had already been ransacked but she was able to find a few cans of beans and spam. She'd give anything for a good piece of venison or some mince and tatties. American food left something to be desired but nowadays there wasn't much of a choice.

A yell echoed through the building. Looking around Meredith tried to find the source of the noise. It sounded like the group she met might be in trouble. Throwing the final items from her list into her bag she walked toward the front of the building.

The Asian man, Meredith never got his name, was running down the road holding a bag with guns sticking out. A tall Hispanic man quickly tackled him. Without a second thought she rushed out of the building dodging the infected. By the time she neared the two men they were struggling over the bag of guns.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Meredith smashed her boot into the side of the Hispanic man throwing him to the ground. He swore in Spanish before turning toward her.

"Stay out of this Chica."

The man turned away from her. He was reaching down to grab the Asian man. Meredith narrowed her eyes; she wasn't done talking to him. He shouldn't have turned his back on her. Lifting her left foot she slammed her boot into the backside of the man again. He fell forward tripping over his own feet. He hit the ground with a loud smack.

"Ah said leave him alone." Meredith heard snarling behind her. Spinning around she swung her axe across the infected's face. The top half of its skull slid to the ground. As the now fully dead body fell her eyes landed on the forming mass before her.

The commotion had drawn the attention of a large group of infected. They were stumbling toward the small group groaning and snarling. Meredith clutched her axe tightly trying to come up with a plan to get her and Rick's man out of this mess.

A van flew past her screeching to a stop near the man she'd kicked over. Turning back toward the group she didn't have enough time to react before a pair of strong arms hoisted her out of the air. She dropped her axe trying to push herself away from her attacker.

"Oi! Let me go!" The man ignored her and continued to drag her toward the waiting van. Two other men had already thrown the Asian man into the car. Meredith could hear voices and screaming. Rick's group was trying to fight off the infected while trying to free them at the same time. Once everyone was in the van the driver took off slamming into two infected unfortunate enough to be standing in front of them.

"Thank you for trying to help me. I'm Glenn." Turning to the man next to her Meredith sent him a small smile. He seemed to be about her age maybe a few years younger. His accent was very clear and he spoke much quicker than the others. She figured he had to have been from another part of the states the North maybe.

"Lot o' good it did either of us."

None of their captors said anything to them though the man Meredith had kicked would glower at her every so often. He also seemed to be sporting a new injury in the form of an arrow planted in his rear. That Daryl guy seemed to have a pretty good shot when it came to a crossbow. If he weren't so unpleasant she might have reconsidered joining Rick's group.

They were taken to a tall warehouse. The door opened to reveal a larger group of men standing around. Meredith and Glenn were dragged roughly out of the car. A short darker skinned man stepped forward; he seemed to be the leader of the gang. His eyes flicked between the two captives and his men.

"What's this?"

"G, We tried to get the guns when these putas ambushed us. Chica here attacked me and some redneck shot me with an arrow."

"Where are my guns?" None of the men would look G in the eye. They didn't want to admit that while they'd taken two hostages they had brought no guns back. G turned to look between Meredith and Glenn again. "Your people going to come?"

"They're not mah people. Ah don't know them." G smirked at her. Stepping forward he placed an arm around her. Meredith fought the urge to punch him; attacking the leader in front of his men was never a good idea.

"Well sweetheart if you don't know them, why did you help them?"

"We're at war with the dead. We shouldn't be fighting each other."

A young kid, no older than 17 ran forward. He clutched an automatic rifle in his hands. Pointing to the door he spoke so rapidly Meredith barely caught what he'd said.

"G, there's two guys outside. They have Miguel."

G motioned toward someone behind Meredith before disappearing into the crowd with the kid. A pair of arms jerked her hands behind her. Ignoring her loud swear the person tied her hands roughly behind her back. The rope pulled painfully at the skin on her wrists. Looking toward Glenn she found they were doing the same thing to him. He shot her a startled look before a cloth bag was shoved over her head.

Meredith couldn't see a thing. She didn't like it; it was causing a feeling of panic to build up in her chest. Not being able to see meant she couldn't see what was coming at her. It meant they could be throwing her into a group of infected and she wouldn't know until it was too late.

A pair of hands guided her up a set of stairs. This really didn't feel good. Were they going to throw them off the roof? She could hear voices as they walked through a doorway. The warm air washed across her face. She was slightly relieved at the fresh air but she also felt terrified at what they were doing outside.

"I have one of yours and you have one of mine. Sounds like an even trade." Meredith recognized Rick's voice instantly. They'd come to rescue Glenn; it seemed G and his men were still under the impression she was apart of their group. She was shoved forward. Losing her balance she landed on her knees painfully. She could feel someone kneeling next to her. It had to be Glenn.

"Seeing as we have two of your people, I see two options; you come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood."

Meredith was lifted to her feet by a pair of hands again. She was getting tired of being manhandled. She tried fighting against her captor but the hands only tightened on her forearms. She could already feel the brushes starting to form.

They were led back down the stairs and deeper into the building. An odd smell reached her nose. A mixture of anticipative and moth balls; overall it was an interesting mixture. When the bags were lifted off their heads the scene before them was the last thing she expected.


	3. Chapter 3

Glenn was sitting with Mr. Gilbert helping him eat his lunch. After the cloth bags had been removed it was revealed that the back half of the building was filled with the elderly. There had been a nursing home a few blocks away. After the dead came to life most of the workers fled leaving behind their patients. G and his men had chose to stay to protect them.

To say she was surprised had been an understatement. These men had built up an image of being ruthless thugs. Behind the masks they were just innocent men trying to do something good. Trying to hold on to what was left of humanity. Meredith felt for their cause. They were just doing what was right.

"I wasn't expecting this. Were you?" Meredith just shook her head. Sitting down next to Glenn she looked around the room. It was a noble cause what G and his men were doing. Made her wonder about Glenn's group. Were they all like Rick and Glenn or were they unpleasant like Daryl?

"Tell me about your group."

"There are about twenty of us. We all met up at various spots; agreed it would be best to travel together. Safer. We stay up near the trees outside the city. The geeks haven't traveled that far yet." Meredith cringed at the word _yet_. It was only a matter of time before everywhere was flooded with the dead.

Suddenly Mr. Gilbert started coughing; he was gasping for air almost as if he were choking. A few of G's men rushed forward trying to help the man steady his breathing. They were yelling in Spanish. Meredith didn't know what they were saying. She'd never bothered to learn the language in school. Hovering around the group she tried to figure out what was wrong.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He has asthma. We can't find his inhaler."

An elderly woman disappeared through the front doors. Meredith helped the men lean Mr. Gilbert forward. They were hoping by pushing his head between his knees he'd be able to breath better. His face was starting to turn a faint bluish color. If they didn't hurry they were going to have a dead man on their hands.

A few minutes later the woman returned. Holding her hand was one of G's men; she'd heard him answer to Felipe. Following behind him were Rick, Daryl, and the fourth man from their group. They all had the same shocked expressions she'd had when she first saw the real operation behind the Vato's front.

* * *

Meredith followed the group to the edge of town. Feeling grateful that they had also included her when rescuing Glenn she'd decided to take Rick up on his offer. She was going to give his group a chance. After realizing what was really going on with G and his men Rick chose to give them some of his guns. Daryl was not happy when he did that.

"You've given away half our guns and ammo."

"Not nearly half."

"For what? Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could one man be so cruel about other survivors? G and the other Vato's were doing a good thing; in reality none of them really had that much time. They should at least be given a chance.

"Hold your tongue. You shouldn't talk ill about the elderly." Daryl rolled his eyes. Shrugging his crossbow higher he shot her an annoyed look.

"Why d'you care? Mind yer own business."

"You Americans are so rude. Tis a wonder you've lasted this long. It's like Ah told them back there; we're at war with the dead. We don't need a bunch of hotheaded hicks screwing things up."

Daryl clenched his jaw. She could see a little vein starting to bulge on his neck. It was clear she'd hit a nerve with her comment. She got the impression he wasn't confronted all that often; most people were probably afraid of him. Not her. She grew up with two brothers and in the country to top it off. Not a whole lot scared her when it came to thuggish people.

Rick stepped between the two before the argument could escalate. He gave Daryl a warning look earning another eye roll.

"How long do any of us have?" Meredith silently agreed with Rick. She tilted her head at Daryl giving him a smug grin. He narrowed his eyes at her but abruptly stopped walking. The rest of the group followed suit; all of their eyes landed on the empty spot in front of them.

Looking around Meredith tried to figure out what was going on. Apparently they had been expecting something to be there but it wasn't. They all had matching looks of concern. Daryl stepped forward and kicked some dirt around the empty spot.

"Where the hell's our van?"

It didn't seem like this group could catch a break. Their day just kept getting worse. Meredith was starting to rethink her decision to give their group a chance. She had been doing a pretty good job now at surviving; this group might jeopardize that.

"Who would take it?" Glenn walked circles around the empty spot. He acted like if he kept at it the van would mysteriously reappear.

"Merle." Everyone turned to look at Rick. Meredith was starting to dislike this Merle character. Based off Daryl's attitude she could only guess what type of person his brother was. There must have been a good reason for handcuffing him to the department store roof.

Rick led the group back toward their campsite. Since the van was gone they were going to have to make the trip on foot. It would be getting dark soon; she didn't like to be out at night. The infected were more active during the dark. She really hoped their camp wasn't that far away.

"How long have you been in America?" Meredith turned to see the fourth member of the group; she thought his name was T-Dog or something like that, walking next to her. She noticed that he had a few scratches and bruises scattering his face, definitely not from an infected. She had a few guesses on who was responsible for that.

"About six months. Ah came to study abroad for the year. Quite the turn o' events."

"Your family?" Glancing sideways at T-Dog she gave him a sullen look.

"Ah don't know. Ah talked to them a week afore the outbreak. Do you know if it reached Europe?"

T-Dog shook his head at her question. Glancing around she saw that the rest of the group was also shaking their heads. Meredith looked down at the ground. Her boots shuffled along the grass. She had to keep positive. There was a chance her family might still be alive; the outbreak may not have reached that far.

"Ah will make it home one day. Ah have to." Rick peered over his shoulder to give her a reassuring smile.

"I think you will too. I found my family; no reason you can't find yours."

Meredith wasn't sure if he was just saying it to make her feel better but she appreciated it either way. All they had left was hope even if it was false hope. Daryl seemed to disagree.

"Not likely." Rick caught up to Daryl to give him a pointed look. He was in the process of reprimanding him when Meredith motioned from him to stop.

"There's no point in yelling at him. He's not going to change his mind."

The group continued to walk along quietly. Some of them were lost in their thoughts about their family members while others didn't want to attract the attention of any of the infected. Meredith was silently watching Daryl trudge along a head of the group. He didn't seem like the type that liked to socialize with others.

As much of a jerk as he was she did feel bad for him. His brother was missing; Meredith would give anything to know her family was ok. She felt guilty for speaking to him the way she had. For all she knew Daryl was acting that way because his only family was gone, most likely dead.

Quickening her pace she caught up with him. He glanced sideways at her but didn't verbally acknowledge she was there. Adjusting her bag on her back Meredith bit on the inside of her cheek. It took a lot for her to apologize for something she said. She was a big believer that you always say what you need to say and never be sorry for that.

"Daryl, Ah wanted to apologize for what Ah said earlier. Ah…" She was interrupted by a scream coming from somewhere in front of them.

The four men quickly broke out into a run. Pulling her axe from her bag (Rick had thankfully brought it with him when they rescued her and Glenn) Meredith rushed after them. Her guess was the scream came from someone in their camp.

Meredith followed Glenn into the camp clearing. A dozen or so infected were attacking the group. She could see a few children cowering toward the RV with their mothers grabbing them protectively. Most of the men were fighting off the dead as best as they could. A few of them went down after being over powered. Gunshots rang out as two infected went down.

Her eyes landed on a small child cowering against the side of the RV. She had somehow gotten away from her mother. An infected was snarling at her trying to grab at her small frame. Clutching her axe Meredith came up behind the infected. She smashed her weapon through its neck. Its head slid clean off of its shoulders.

Peering down at the head she watched the eyes roam around frantically trying to find food. Slim and blood dribbled from its mouth as it eyed her hungrily. Bringing her foot down on the head she flattened it with a sickening crunch. Brain matter splattered across her boot.

Kneeling down Meredith softly smiled at the child. The girl was still cowering against the RV. Her hands covered her face. She was trying to block out the sight of the walking dead covering the campsite.

"It's ok. Ah won't hurt you."

The girl started to step toward her before stopping suddenly. Her eyes were peering over Meredith's shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something but the only noise to come out was a small whimper.

Turning slowly Meredith backed up trying to dodge the infected before her. She'd set her axe down while trying to soothe the scared child. Pushing herself in front of the girl she tried coming up with a plan. She could try for her axe; it was lying within inches of the flesh-eating creature in front of her. Chances were she'd be bitten before she even got the chance. She had to do something to protect the small child.

Shuffling forward the infected clawed at the woman before it. It's bloody hands gripped at Meredith's shirt. Frozen in shock she stood watching as the oozing mouth came closer and closer. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't force herself to move. If the infected fed on her it would at least give the girl a chance to get away.

Suddenly the infected froze in its spot. There was an arrow lodged in between its eyes; the tip sat inches from Meredith's face. The infected slid to the ground. Standing several feet away was Daryl. His crossbow was still pointing in her direction. Shooting her a smug look much like hers from earlier he moved on looking for any other threats.

Meredith fought the urge to say something rude back to him. She was silently taking back her apology. It was clear he wasn't acting like an ass just because his brother was missing. She had a feeling Daryl was this unpleasant and rude all the time.

Picking up her axe she looked around at the damage. They'd taken care of all the infected; it looked like a large number of the group had been taken down before they got there. One woman was crouched over another one lying in the dirt. The girl wasn't moving; there was a large bite in her neck. A shiver ran down her spine as Meredith realized how similar the two women looked. She felt a pang of sympathy for what she assumed were sisters. She had a bad feeling about joining the group but chose to push it aside. They needed help cleaning up the mess.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't plan on updating as quickly as this but I just wanted to get a good track going. I haven't quite decided what my update interval will be yet but for now here's another chapter (: I'm always open to any suggestions; I'm also still looking for a different nickname other than Red if you have any suggestions.

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"How do we know we can trust her?" Meredith shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of what was left of Rick's group. There had been quite a few of them that died the night before or had decided to venture away from the group. Some of them were giving her kind looks while others could kill with one glance most specifically the other Police Officer in the group.

Rick's best friend Shane was the first to verbalize his dislike toward her joining the group. He brought up great reasons for why she shouldn't join them. Many reasons that Meredith herself would agree with if the roles were reversed. They didn't know anything about her. Who she was before the outbreak; what type of person she was now. She couldn't blame them for not wanting her around.

"She tried to help save Glenn when we were attacked. She helped us last night without question. We could use someone like her Shane."

"Rick we have to be careful. Some people in this world are only out for themselves. Plus it's an extra mouth we have to provide for."

Meredith pulled her backpack off. Rummaging through it she pulled out the food she'd procured the day before. She handed them to Shane with a soft smile.

"Tis nothing fancy but Ah can contribute. Ah know how to fight; Ah made tha' clear yesterday. Give me a chance; if you feel like you still can't trust me then Ah'll leave."

"She's a fighter. Rick's right. We could use her." She wasn't the only one surprised by Daryl's comment. A lot of the group looked at him in shock that he'd actually verbalized something other than hateful words. Of all the people she thought he would be leading the train on getting her away from them.

With all eyes on him Daryl started to shift nervously. He brought his thumb to his mouth where he started to chew on the side of it. She figured it was a nervous tick he had. Daryl didn't seem to like being the center of attention. He'd much rather stay off to the side where no one noticed him.

A woman looking to be around her early forties stepped forward. She had short grayish hair. There was blood splattered on her clothes. A few yellowing bruises were scattered across her collarbone. She had her arm around the young girl Meredith had saved the day before.

"I think we should give her a chance. She is the one that saved Sophia."

One by one the others started to agree with Daryl and the woman who she learned was named Carol. Shane didn't look happy at all to be outvoted but he chose not to comment either way. He shot a dark look at Rick when the sheriff wasn't looking before storming toward his car.

Meredith moved around the camp helping them clean up the dead. In the heat most of the bodies had already started to decay. A sickening stench radiated from most of them. It took everything in her not to vomit. Rick's group had a strict policy when it came to the dead. The 'walkers' as they called them were burned; anyone from their group were buried after having something drove through their brains to prevent reanimation.

The blonde woman she'd seen the night before was still huddled over her sister's dead body. A lot of the women were starting to get anxious. Amy had been bitten and died because of her wounds. Anyone that died from a bite came back. There were never any exceptions. The only problem was that Andrea was refusing to let anyone near her sister. Shane had tried to a few times only to have a gun pointed at him.

"This is getting ridiculous. We have to do something." Looking away from the siblings she found Rick's wife standing near her. Lori was watching Andrea with a sad look. She was right; they had to do something before Amy reanimated. That would only lead to more problems.

Setting her bag down Meredith walked slowly toward Andrea. The blonde glanced at her from the corner of her eye. She could see that the red head didn't have any weapons pulled. Kneeling down she gave Andrea a soft smile.

"You an' your sister were close?"

Keeping a weary eye on her to make sure she didn't try anything Andrea nodded softly. "We took care of each other."

"Ah'm sorry this happened to you but you have to think o' the group. Tis not safe to keep her like this."

As if on cue a moaning sound came from the girl lying on the ground. Both women looked down to see Amy twitching and turning. Her skin had paled a considerable amount; her eyes ghosted over just like the others. A fresh set of tears started to fall from Andrea's eyes. She kept running her hand along Amy's check while whispering how sorry she was.

Amy's eyes locked on her sisters. Instead of the loving look she was used to the creature gave her a malicious one. Opening her mouth she tried sitting up to bite into Andrea's shoulder. Meredith could see some of the men shifting preparing to attack if they needed. With one final apology Andrea brought her pistol up to Amy's head. There was a loud bang as blood splattered across the ground.

"He's been bit. Jim's been bit!" Meredith's head shot up at the sound of the screaming woman. Jacqui was holding the shirt to one of the men, she assumed Jim, up to reveal a large bite mark in his stomach. Some of the group members started becoming hysterical. Tears were streaming down Jim's face.

"I'm ok. I'm ok."

Walking away from the group she tried clearing her head. Less than twenty-four hours had gone by and more bad shit had happened than since the outbreak started. Maybe joining them wasn't such a great idea. She couldn't leave now though. Rick, Carol, and Daryl had all advocated for her. Leaving would just prove Shane right.

"What do you think the right idea is?" Meredith turned to see Shane leaning against the tree behind her. He had his arms crossed with a stern look on his face. At her confused look he nodded his head back toward the camp. Back where Daryl and Rick were fighting over what to do with Jim. It seemed the former wanted to end things right there. The sheriff didn't like the idea.

"He's been bit. There's only one thing to be done."

"You don't think there's a cure? Rick seems to think the CDC has some answers."

Meredith shrugged her shoulders. Leaning against the tree opposite him she made sure to keep him in her sights. Something was off about Shane; she didn't trust him for a second. After all he was the one that said people in this world only looked out for them-selves. She didn't want to jump to conclusions but he seemed to fit the bill for that type of person.

"If there was a cure th' CDC would have stepped in already. They might have answers though. How come this happened; what they're doing to fix it."

It was decided then. They would travel to the CDC to see if there were any answers. Jim was to travel with them; if there was a cure then they might be able to help him. Meredith didn't like the idea of traveling in the RV with Jim. Something could happen and she didn't want to be stuck in a moving death trap should he change.

Her other two options were Daryl or Shane. Rick's car was filled with his wife, son, Carol, and Sophia. Meredith didn't particularly like Daryl but she didn't trust Shane. There was no way in hell she'd willingly ride with the police officer. That left her one option. Daryl had looked just as thrilled as she felt when she asked if she could ride with him.

"What'd you do afore th' outbreak?" Daryl didn't respond to her question. He kept his eyes on the road in front of him. They were trailing the group driving behind the RV. She had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. He couldn't possibly be giving her the silent treatment. "Ah'd ne'er been anywhere overseas afore coming here."

"I don't care."

"Ah was just trying to make conversation." The truck started to roll to a stop. Peering around she found that the cars in front of them had stopped. Rick and Shane disappeared into the RV. A few minutes later they were helping Jim out of the vehicle.

"What the hell they doing now?"

Meredith followed Daryl out of the truck. The others had gathered around Jim. He was leaning against one of the trees near the edge of the forest. His skin was starting to give a grayish hue to it. He was running a fever; that was the first sign of the infection. Jacqui was giving him a concerned look.

"We're almost there Jim just hold on."

"I can't hold on any longer. I'll just put you all in danger. This is what I want."

Rick tried offering his gun to Jim. To give him an out but the man refused. He didn't want to take any weapons away from the group. After making sure he was comfortable they all headed back to their cars. Meredith took the opportunity to take the empty spot in the RV. She wasn't going to spend any longer with Daryl than she had to.

She peered up at the CDC building from the window of the RV. The sun was nearly gone casting an ominous shadow on the walls. Now that they were there a bad feeling was settling in her stomach. She knew going into the building was a bad idea. She voiced her concerns to the elderly man she'd been traveling with all day.

"Ah have an ill feeling about this."

"I trust Rick. He believes going here will help."

Nodding she followed Dale out of the vehicle. Everyone had gathered into a small group. They all peered up at the one building that would either be their doom or their saving grace. Shane pulled his rifle off his shoulder aiming it toward the ground.

"All right, everyone keep moving. Go on. Stay quiet."

Keeping a tight grip on her axe Meredith followed along side the group. So far there didn't seem to be any threats. Most of the walkers in the area were actually dead. Some of the women in the group looked as if they were trying not to vomit at the piles of rotting bodies. The smell alone was enough to make someone faint.

They made it to the edge of the building. Meredith felt her stomach drop. Every door and window was shuttered; there didn't seem to be a way in. Shane pounded on the door hoping someone would answer. The only response was the echo of his fists hitting the metal soon followed by soft shuffling sounds. Turning Meredith saw them just as Daryl yelled out.

"Walkers!"

Running forward she sunk her axe into the face of a walker the same time one of Daryl's arrows lodged itself into another. Looking further out Meredith's eyes landed on more of the dead coming toward them. There was no way the two of them would be able to fight off all of them; even if the other's helped the chances were slim. Daryl shot another arrow taking down a nasty looking walker. Turning he shot a glare at Rick.

"You led us into a graveyard."

Meredith's blood ran cold. She couldn't believe this was happening. Rick told her she'd be safe with them. She had been in more danger with this group than when she traveled alone. Swinging her axe she took out the head of another walker. For every one she killed another appeared.

Shane was trying to sooth the panicking crowd. If they broke off chaos would ensue. They would all probably die. "He made a call."

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl was right. As much as Meredith didn't want to agree with him, Rick had made the wrong call. Now he was going to get them all killed. She dug her axe into the neck of a walker. It's blood splattered all over her clothes as she pulled away.

"Aye! You said 'twas safer traveling with you."

Shane shot the two a dark look. "Just shut up. You hear? Rick this is a dead end."

Rick still had yet to acknowledge that anyone was speaking to him. He pounded on the door again with no response. The women and children were starting to back away from the building. They had to get to the cars; if the walkers surrounded them they would never get away alive.

Someone mentioned Fort Benning but even Meredith knew that wouldn't work. She'd heard Glenn say it was 125 miles from Atlanta to Fort Benning. There was no food and they didn't have a lot of fuel left. The group would never make it alive. They'd put their faith in Rick. It was clear he had been the wrong man to trust.

"The camera…it moved." Meredith finished cutting the head off of one of the walkers before turning to look at Rick. He was staring determinedly at the security camera just above his head. It was sitting still; wasn't moving now and probably hadn't at all.

"You imagined it." Rick glared at Shane's comment. He looked so determined that the camera had moved. Looking back at it he started yelling at the invisible person behind it.

"Hey Red over 'ere!"

Frowning at the nickname Meredith turned to see Daryl rushing toward a group of the dead. They were starting to accumulate into a herd; if they got any bigger the group was going to have more problems than what they already had.

Running over to him she swung her axe upward into the rotting face before her. More blood splattered onto her clothes. At this rate Meredith would be covered. She continued to fight forward vaguely aware of a few arrows shooting into the faces of the dead around them.

Suddenly she couldn't see. A blinding light filled the entire area. For a few seconds she thought she was dead; that the light was leading her to her salvation. Meredith turned to find the source of the light. It was so warm and inviting. The light was calling out to her. As her eyes started to adjust to the brightness they landed on the open door to the building.


	5. Chapter 5

I decided to go ahead and update again. I think this is where I will start doing updates on a specific day. I work Mon-Fri so I'm thinking I will update sometime between Fri-Sun. I will have a few more updates the next few weeks because I'm on Christmas break. The joys of working in a school (:

Like I said before the chapters kind of follow through the episodes. Not all of them will necessarily be covered. In one of my Supernatural stories I post which episode the chapter covers at the top of the page; if you want me to do that I can, just let me know. Thanks to the guest who reviewed; I really appreciate it. As always feedback is welcome!

P.s I'm still open to any suggestion for nicknames for Meredith. If not I'll probably stick with Red.

* * *

"What's it going to hurt? Come on."

Rick was trying to talk Lori into letting Carl have a sip of wine. Carl excitedly took the glass from Dale and tilted the cool liquid to his mouth. The look on the twelve year olds face had the entire group laughing. He'd scrunched his nose in disgust and quickly pushed the glass away.

"That's gross."

Lori smiled softly and placed her hand on Carl's shoulder. "That's my boy."

It turned out Rick hadn't hallucinated the camera moving outside. There was someone inside the CDC. Only one person, Dr. Edwin Jenner was living below ground inside the building. He'd been very hush about what it was he was doing but he had been adamant that they understand once the doors closed he wasn't going to open them back up. Meredith found that to be slightly unsettling.

Dr. Jenner had opened the doors just in the nick of time. The walkers outnumbered her and Daryl. There was only so much they could do before the rotting bodies would have over powered them both. Jenner had swept in with his blinding light allowing them in once they agreed to a blood test. He couldn't be too careful he'd said; he had to inspect for the infection.

He'd more than made up for it by providing them with food. She couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten to eat food like this. It wasn't a traditional Scottish cuisine but it also wasn't canned meat. She was working on her second helping of instant potatoes when the liquor started getting passed around.

After finishing her plate she grabbed the bottle Daryl had just set down. Taking a long swig Meredith savored the burning as the liquid slid down her throat. It instantly started calming her fried nerves. When she set the glass down a large portion of the group was staring at her.

"What're you a' looking at?"

"You keep drinking like that and yer face'll be as red as little man's over there." Daryl jerked his head toward Glenn who was sporting a nice shade of pink on his cheeks from the alcohol. Rolling her eyes softly Meredith pushed the bottle closer to the man next to her. Her brown eyes shot him a challenging look.

"No one holds thair liquor lik' a Scot." She was good at holding her alcohol. The only indicator that she was getting drunk was that her accent got deeper. Her roommate had always complained that she could never understand her after she'd had a few too many drinks at the local pub.

"Is that so?" Daryl returned the challenging look before taking a long drink himself. The tips of his cheeks were turning pink to match Glenn's. She found the image to be quite amusing cute even.

"Aye Ah kin out drink any man."

She reached forward to take the bottle out of Daryl's hand. The liquor relaxed her; something she hadn't been for a long time. As long as they were safe underground she didn't see the problem in indulging herself for once. There was no knowing when they'd get a chance to kick back like this again. Shane seemed to be thinking of other things; he was quick to shatter the lulled contentment everyone was in. Meredith could feel her buzz starting to slip away.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane brushed off Rick's protest. "This is why we're here right?"

Dr. Jenner leaned against the back wall holding his own glass of wine. He hadn't eaten much but he was working on what looked to be his third glass. His eyes flitted around the group nervously. Something about the way he was acting gave her a strange feeling.

"When thing's got bad a lot of people left. A lot of them opted out."

It was worse than Meredith had imagined. Sure she didn't truly believe there was a cure but Rick had been so certain. She had started to feel a little hopeful when they found Jenner. If the Scientists were giving up was there any reason to continue to fight?

Her stomach knotted making the alcohol churn. She was starting to feel nauseous; it took everything for her not to vomit all over herself or Daryl. A part of her didn't want to ask the question but Meredith had to know. Maybe things were ok overseas; maybe Europe was working hard to solve this problem in America.

"Ah have t' ask ye doc, how far has this spread?"

"How far?" Jenner laughed bitterly. The alcohol in her stomach churned again causing her head to swirl. The look in the doctor's eyes scared her. He spread his arms wide. "It's everywhere."

Her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't breath; she'd been holding onto hope that just maybe Europe had been exempt from the outbreak. That Scotland was safe; her family was safe. It had all been false hope. She now understood why the scientists had opted out, understood why they thought death was better.

"You're family over there?"

"Aye." Everyone was staring at her. They didn't even try to hide the pity in their eyes. Running her hand across her face Meredith took a deep breath in. She could see it in Jenner's eyes, in Dale's eyes. They all thought the same thing. Chances were her family was dead. She felt numb.

Jumping down from her seat on the countertop she swayed slightly. Her head was swimming from the alcohol. She felt her shoulder bump into something. Or someone. She wasn't really sure. All she knew is that she had to get out there. She couldn't take the looks anymore.

Meredith was wandering the hallways when Carol found her. She stopped walking long enough to let the older woman catch up. Even though she hadn't known Carol for very long Meredith felt comforted by her presence. She was a peaceful woman.

"There's a chance your family could still be alive."

"Ah'm ok. You don't have t' say what we know isn't true." She appreciated what Carol was trying to do. She agreed to go to the CDC because she thought there might be answers. The answers were not what she'd been looking for but Meredith couldn't survive on hope alone. The chances that her family had survived were slim; there was no point in holding on to the false hope any longer.

"We don't know that for sure. If they're anything like you then I believe they could be alive."

Her words warmed Meredith's heart even if she was only trying to make her feel better. Deep down she knew the truth; they all did.

"Maybe you're right. Thank you."

"Jenner said there's hot water. Maybe a shower will help."

Carol had been right. The shower felt amazing even if it was only for a few minutes. She watched the dirt and grime slid off her body along with the scalding water. It felt great to be able to finally wash her hair. She kept it up mostly to keep it from getting too greasy. She ran her fingers through her wet hair; it had been a long time since she was able to do that.

Rubbing a towel through her hair she walked through the hallway. It was reassuring to know they were safe even if it was only for a night. In the back of her mind she was still thinking about Dr. Jenner's strange behavior. He'd only let them in once he made it clear the doors wouldn't open back up. Something about that gave her a bad feeling. There was something off about him. Especially the way he acted during dinner.

It seemed everyone was already asleep. Peering through the hallways Meredith found that pretty much the entire group had retired to one of the bedrooms for the night. Sleep sounded like a great idea but since the outbreak she hadn't slept well. She was constantly on the lookout; it only took one night for her to put her guard down and she'd be dead.

Much to her displeasure she soon realized Daryl wasn't much of a sleeper either. He was sitting against the wall in one of the hallways leading toward the kitchen. His hair sat flat against his head; it also looked darker due to its dampness. It looked like Daryl had taken advantage of the buildings hot water. He had a considerably less amount of dirt stuck to him.

He'd been able to find another liquor bottle and was enjoying himself to a late night drink. His cheeks were tinged a darker pink than from earlier. Meredith assumed he'd probably been at it for a while. Daryl glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. He didn't seem pleased to see her, which was fine. Meredith wasn't entirely thrilled to find he was going to be her night owl buddy. Reaching down she plucked the bottle from his hand.

"Not much o' a sleeper either?"

Daryl scowled at her as she took a drink from the bottle. "Don't trust it here. Something ain't right."

"Aye. Ah think the good doctor is hiding something." She leaned against the wall opposite him. Sliding down she sat with her knees tucked up against her chest. Daryl continued to give her a narrowed look as he snatched the bottle back.

"Why you sitting with me? Got the feeling you didn't like me."

"You're not mah favorite person to be around but seeing as you have the good stuff, looks like we're friends t'night."

Daryl stared at her with a hard expression for several seconds. With a shrug he passed the bottle back to her. They spent most of the night just passing the bottle back and forth. Meredith was feeling pretty good halfway through. She could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks.

Glancing at Daryl she watched him pick at a piece of string on his pants. His hair had dried with a few pieces sticking up at odd ends. It was a cute look on him. Meredith frowned at the thought; that was the second time that day she'd thought Daryl looked cute. She really had to lay off the alcohol. Daryl's blue eyes suddenly locked with her brown ones.

"Ain't polite to stare."

"Is yer brother rude juist lik' ye?" Daryl scrunched his eyebrows at her question. Her accent was getting thicker due to the alcohol. It looked like he was trying to decipher what she said. When he realized she was asking about Merle his eyes narrowed.

"Don't talk about Merle. You don't know him."

"Ye'r richt Ah don'. Ah was juist asking a quaistion."

He looked confused again. Scowling at her he tossed the liquor bottle at her. He stood up brushing the dirt off his clothes.

"I can't understand you when yer drunk."

Meredith watched him disappear down the hallway. Either she'd struck a nerve talking about his brother or he really didn't like being around her. At least he'd left the alcohol with her. Raising the bottle she gave a salute to the air and tipped it against her mouth.


	6. Chapter 6

Here's Chapter 6. Thanks to the Guest and Kyokkou for the reviews! As for the nickname, It doesn't necessarily have to be about her hair. It can be a nickname that you think goes with her personality.

Enjoy and as always feedback is appreciated!

* * *

Meredith groaned as she lifted her head. She'd fallen asleep with her knees pulled up and her head resting on top of them. Her body was not happy with the position; her muscles ached from being still for far too long. Stretching she tried relaxing the stiffness in her muscles. She had a faint headache from the alcohol but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

Everyone was already awake when she strolled into the kitchen. Glenn and Rick both had matching looks of anguish on their faces. It was clear they'd both drank way too much and were now paying the consequences. Except for a small grimace on Daryl's face when one of the children spoke too loudly it was hard to tell he drank at all last night.

"Feeling rough this morning?" Smiling at T-Dog she accepted the plate of eggs being handed to her. She leaned against the counter top and shook her head. Her red hair waved around her shoulders since she'd allowed it to air dry.

"Scots don't get hung-over. We just drink more."

Everyone laughed at her comment; she was even able to get a smirk from Daryl. The mood quickly sobered when the doctor walked in. Meredith watched him suspiciously. After finding out Daryl had a bad feeling too she decided she didn't trust Jenner. He was up to something. Shane pushed his plate away and gave Jenner a serious look.

"I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing…"

Rick set his glass of orange juice down. He turned to give his best friend a hard look. "Shane, it's early. We just got up."

"Shane is right. Tis time we get some answers."

Jenner cast a look around the group. Meredith couldn't quite place the look but it gave her a bad feeling. She didn't think she was going to like what he had to say. With a sigh the doctor motioned for them to follow him. They were led back into the main computer room. Jenner silently clicked at the computer keys before glancing toward the computer mainframe.

"Give me playback of TS-19."

A giant screen flashed across the wall in front of them. There was an MRI video of someone's brain. Meredith watched in awe as the lights and electrical impulses raced through the brain from end to end. She'd never seen anything so beautiful before. It was like watching the stars fly across the night sky.

Suddenly all the lights went out in the brain. It went completely dark. She could hear someone asking what happened behind her. The answer was obvious even before Jenner said anything. The patient had died; the video recorded the persons last moments before the brain just shut down.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be … gone." A purple light started filtering through the brain stem. It followed a patch from the bottom to the center of the brain. Slowly the patient started to twitch. "Resurrection times vary widely. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute seven seconds."

"It restarts the brain?" Meredith turned to look at Rick. She knew what he was getting at. She'd heard him mention his hesitation toward killing walkers. If there was a chance they might still be people it meant they had all become murderers. That thought alone caused shivers to run down her spine.

Dr. Jenner shook his head at Rick's question. "No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving. Who they were is gone."

The patient continued to move around as its brain reanimated. Something appeared just above the patient's head. It looked a lot like a gun; Meredith had a sick feeling it was. A small object ejected from the edge of it. It whizzed through the brain; the patient instantly stopped moving.

"Bloody 'ell." Meredith ran a hand through her hair. This trip had become more than she bargained for. She'd seen the dead come back to life but to see the disease bring the brain back was unsettling. It really put their situation into perspective. Really solidified why the scientists had chosen to opt out.

Dale walked passed her slightly. He was looking up at a large clock on the wall. It was the first time she'd actually noticed it. It was counting down; Meredith's face scrunched in confusion.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question but … that clock … it's counting down. What happens at zero?"

"The basement generators … they run out of fuel." A chill ran through Meredith's body. She didn't like the sound of what Jenner was saying. The facility needed the generators to keep everything on lock down. If they stopped working did that mean topside would open up allowing walkers in? Dale must have been thinking the same because he continued his questioning of the doctor.

"And then?"

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

"_When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination."_

Meredith turned toward the rest of the group. They were all looking at each other with the same confused look she had. Nothing Dr. Jenner was saying made sense. Glenn voiced his concerns out loud but there was no answer. They all turned to see the doctor had wandered off somewhere.

Some of the men decided to head down to the basement to check out the generators. Meredith was sitting with Carol and Lori inside one of the bedrooms. Their children were playing a card game they'd found in the rec room. She enjoyed watching them play; watching the innocence that the apocalypse had yet to destroy.

"Meredith, we really don't know a whole lot about you."

"Lori's right. You're apart of this group now. We should all get to know each other."

She smiled at both women sitting with her. They were pleasant to be around; Meredith was a social butterfly during school. She always made friends and it had been real hard on her not being able to talk to anyone for so long. Carol and Lori both seemed like they'd make good friends. They didn't shoot her looks like Shane; they certainly didn't act like she was a nuisance like Daryl did.

"There isn't a whole lot to say. Ah was born 'n raised in Scotland."

"Did you have a boyfriend back home?" Meredith laughed at Lori's question. It was clear that although the world had come to an end idle gossip was still a thing. It was actually quite comforting.

"Na, Ah broke up with 'im afore Ah moved. Our lives weren't going in the identical direction."

There was a soft buzzing and then the lights suddenly went out. Carl and Sophia ran to their mothers in fear. Meredith peered through the doorway; it seemed the lights had gone out everywhere.

"Do you see anything Meredith?"

"Na looks like the lights went out everywhere."

After inspecting the rest of the area they ventured back toward the computer main frame. It seemed that it was the only part of the building that still had electricity. Her stomach gave a violent jolt; when the generators lost power the building went into decontamination. What ever that meant.

The men returned a few seconds after they did. Their faces gave away what Meredith had feared. The generators must have finally started to run out. Lori was brave enough to ask.

"What happened?"

"All of the generators are almost empty."

"I did the best I could." Meredith turned to see Jenner clicking away at one of the computers. He had a pained look on his face. Carol tired asking him what was going on but he just continued to talk into the computer screen. It was then she realized he was recording himself. Rick stepped forward and grabbed Jenner by the arm.

"What is the building doing?"

"It's prioritizing power. I don't have a say in what happens."

What the hell did he mean by that? Meredith looked around the group. They all seemed to be just as confused. Jenner's behavior was worrisome. There had to be a reason he was acting like they were all about to die.

"It was the French." Jenner didn't bother to turn and look at them. He was still staring into the computer screen. A picture frame of a brunette peaked from behind one of his hands. "They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?"

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid; ran out of juice."

As if she had been summoned by his words Vi's voice echoed through the room. "_30 minutes to decontamination."_

"Doc what does tha' mean?" Jenner ignored her question. He never took his eye off the screen. Meredith locked eyes with Rick; he looked confused and terrified. Exactly how she felt. He glanced around at the group frantically trying to make a decision.

"Everyone get your things!"

It all happened at once. Daryl and T-Dog turned to run through the doorway; Jenner hit a button on the keyboard; large metal doors slid into place blocking their exit. Shane and Glenn ran for the exit trying to pull them up.

"He just locked us in!"

"We've hit the 30 minute window."

The children ran for their mothers. T-Dog joined the two trying to break the door down while Rick stepped toward Jenner. Meredith was frozen in shock; she didn't know what to do. The building was about to decontaminate. Not that any of them even knew what that meant.

"Jenner open that door now!" The doctor clutched the picture in his hand tighter. Meredith had a sinking feeling that whoever was in that photo was connected to the patient that died.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked own. The emergency exits are sealed. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again, you heard me say that."

She couldn't breath. It was like the wind had been sucked out of her lungs. She knew they shouldn't have trusted him. He was right; he had said he wouldn't reopen the doors. How were they supposed to know it meant they were locked in there forever? Someone was crying hysterically behind her. Another was swearing loudly at the doctor.

Meredith thought she heard Carol's small voice asking what happened at the end of thirty minutes but Jenner ignored her. The question was asked again and ignored again. Taking a small step forward she leaned so she could see the doctors face.

"Wha' happens when the decontamination starts?"

"Do you know what this place is? We protected the public from very nasty stuff. Stuff you don't want getting out, ever. In the event of a catastrophic power failure H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

The longer he talked the uneasier Meredith felt. He still wasn't making any sense. What Jenner was saying was just confusing her more. What the hell were H.I.T.s? Almost as if he read her mind the doctor looked up at the main frame again.

"Vi, define."

"_H.I.T.s high impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives…"_

Meredith stopped listening. It was like her ears had shut off. She couldn't feel her body. _Air explosives_ were all she needed to hear. It didn't take a scientist to guess what it meant.

Rick was the first to move. He rushed at the doctor but was grabbed roughly by Shane. Struggling against his best friend Rick tried reaching for the doctor's lab coat.

"You son of a bitch. Open the damn door."

Daryl shoved passed T-Dog carrying an axe. Swinging it around he smashed it against the door. It didn't even leave a scratch. Meredith felt light headed. She'd fought too hard for too long to end up blown up. On the other hand if it was really as helpless as Jenner made it sound what was the point of it all. She grasped the desk tightly trying to steady her breathing.

The axe clanged against the door again. Daryl swore loudly. Nothing was working. A child was crying somewhere. Rick was still trying to get out of Shane's grasp.

"That door is made to withstand a rocket launcher."

"Well your head ain't." Daryl ran down the ramp with his axe raised. Jenner cowered against the computer desk. Rick and Shane grabbed Daryl by the arm stopping him abruptly.

Meredith's breathing was starting to return. The longer she thought about what Jenner said the more it made sense. Why should they fight if there was no hope? Was life worth it for a lifetime of fighting the dead?

Dropping her arm from around her daughter Carol stepped toward Jenner. She had her arms wrapped around her body as if she were a small child. Shaking her head she gave him a pleading look.

"This isn't right. My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this."

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run done?"

Jenner was right. A peace washed over her. They could wait for the clock to run down; be reunited with those they loved on the other side. God would understand wouldn't he? This wasn't really suicide; it was choosing not to fight the dead. Right?

The sheriff took a deep breath and started walking toward Jenner. He kept his hands raised to show he wasn't going to hurt him.

"You have to let us keep trying as long as we can. We might have a chance out there."

Dr. Jenner looked at the entire group. He looked torn; in the end he nodded softly. "I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." He kept his eyes on the computer as he clicked away; a few seconds later the door slid open.

"I'm staying." Those that hadn't run through the doorway yet turned to look at Jacqui. She was standing near Jenner with her arms crossed. T-Dog grabbed her hand trying to pull her along with him.

"You can't that's insane!"

"I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy. There's no point in arguing. Not if you want to get out." T-Dog hesitated. He looked like he was fighting tears. Shaking his head he ran through the doorway.

The next to declare she wasn't leaving was Andrea. She leaned against the computer desk while Dale tried talking her out of staying. He'd come to see her as a surrogate daughter; he wasn't about to let her get herself killed.

Meredith was standing in the same spot she'd been. Her body wouldn't move; she wasn't entirely sure she wanted it to. The only thing she kept thinking about was her family. Chances were they were dead or worse walkers. Did she want to live long enough to find out? A hand grasped around her wrist tightly.

"Come on Red, you ain't gonna die here." Turning around she came face to face with Daryl's stern face. Her wide eyes stared into his; he didn't look like he was going to argue with her. He'd find a way to get her out even if he had to carry her. Without thinking twice Meredith quickly followed after him. They only had 2 minutes to get out.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for the reviews from the guest and Kyokkou!

I think this will be the last chapter I post before I finish the on I'm currently on. I still have a few chapters written but I don't want to rush myself. I should have another update in the next couple of days. As always any feedback is welcome!

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_The sun shone brightly through the RV window. It was eerily quiet in the vehicle. Meredith had been listening to Shane and Andrea discuss the latter's gun. Walking toward the front of the RV she could see the outline of a man. He was tall with broad shoulders; a mess of red hair sat on his head._

"_Da?"_

"_Don' give up Wee Rid."_

"_Da what's going on? Are you safe? What about Ma? Danny? Marco?"_

_Her father kept his back turned. She wanted to see his face; to know he was ok. She stepped forward wanting to wrap her arms around him._

"_Don't git too close." Frowning she turned around. Daryl was standing behind her. Looking around confused she tried to figure out how he'd gotten inside the RV. He was riding his brother's motorcycle. Meredith would have noticed if Dale stopped driving. _

"_What're you doing 'ere?"_

"_Stay away. That ain't yer dad." He stared past her giving her father a dark look. This wasn't making any sense. Shaking her head at Daryl she turned back to look at her father._

"_Da?" Moving slowly her father started turning around. He was moving stiffly; his arms hung loosely at his side. _

_Her mouth dropped when her father finished turning around. His face was a sickly green color very similar to that of split pea soup. Red streaks ran down his cheeks. His eyes stared back at her clouded over like so many of the dead she'd seen._

"_Na, not you." Stepping back she tried distancing herself from the man who used to be her father. Her back slammed into something soft. Meredith had forgotten Daryl was standing behind her. She turned around coming face to face with the rotting face of her mother. "Ma?"_

_The woman had the same dried blood running down her face as her father. There was blood dried around her mouth; like she'd been eating something and it smeared all over her face. Meredith fought the urge to vomit. This couldn't be happening. Her worst nightmare was coming true. _

Gasping Meredith sat up. She hadn't even realized she fell asleep. Dale was standing in the doorway looking at her with a concerned expression.

"Are you alright?"

Running a hand through her hair she nodded. "Aye, 'twas just a dream."

"Well we're stopped for a bit. Hose went bad in the RV. Everyone's looking around for supplies."

Smiling softly Meredith stood up. She was glad he made it out of the CDC. It wasn't clear if either him or Andrea would make it but the blonde had reluctantly left. She didn't want to be responsible for Dale's death. She'd been giving him the cold shoulder ever since.

Meredith had almost stayed behind too. In a moment of confusion, or maybe grief she'd thought what Jenner was saying made sense. Daryl had disagreed. For some reason he'd grabbed her arm telling her she wasn't going to die. She didn't understand why he did it. Why he even cared but it was enough to bring her back to reality. She didn't want to die not that way at least. Rick was right they should be given a chance.

The RV had broken down on the packed freeway leading out of Atlanta. All of the remaining cars were either abandoned or their owners sat rotting in their seats. Carol and Lori were digging through a suitcase pulling out supplies for the group. Their children were running around near the front of the RV enjoying the summer heat.

Meredith walked slowly between the cars. She kept an eye out making sure none of the corpses left had reanimated. Opening the hatch of a dark blue car she looked through the bags that had been left behind. There were a few long sleeve shirts that would come in handy when it started getting colder. She also found a pretty pink dress that looked like it would fit Carol's daughter Sophia perfectly.

Her fingers grasped around the silky material of something inside the bag. She was curious as to what the previous owner had been taking with them when they fled. Her eyes widened when she pulled out a very skimpy red nighty. Looking around she noticed Daryl and T-Dog roaming a few aisles over.

The two glanced over when they heard a soft whistle. Holding the nighty to her body she gave an over dramatic pose.

"How do Ah look?" T-Dog laughed at the ridiculous look on her face. Winking at her he continued walking between the cars. Daryl had a pink tinge to his cheeks. He glowered at her causing her to laugh. "You didn't answer mah question."

T-Dog returned before Daryl had a chance to answer. He motioned for them to get down on the ground. Without hesitation she dropped onto her stomach. It was once they were all quiet that Meredith heard them. By the sound of it, it had to be a herd.

Reaching behind her she started to grab her axe. It was then she realized it was still sitting with her bag in Dale's RV. Looking around frantically she tried finding a place where she could hide. Her best option would be to get under one of the cars but she had to do so without catching the attention of any walkers.

Meredith froze; she'd heard a scream somewhere behind her. It was a child. Glancing through the bottom of the car next to her she caught sight of Sophia running into the woods; a few seconds later two walkers followed after her quickly pursued by Rick.

"Shite, Sophia." Something moved behind her. Looking over her shoulder she moved in just enough time to avoid the snarling creature. It stumbled after her tripping over it's own feet. The walker fell a few inches from her. She kept moving quickly away from it; if she stood the others might see her.

Meredith heard a moan in front of her. Glancing up she realized another walker was shuffling toward her. She was stuck between two very hungry flesh-eating monsters. Her only option was to make for the underside of the nearest car. She could at least put some distance between her and the walkers.

Right as a bloody hand grasped her leg Meredith rolled under the nearest car. She rolled all the way to the other side of the vehicle. Crouching down she glanced around looking for any more threats. Her eyes landed on a small crowd of walkers; they all turned to look at her.

"Bugger."

Standing completely up Meredith backed toward the forest. She didn't want to split from the group but staying put was going to get her killed. Glancing around she made eye contact with Daryl. He was hunched on the ground with a dead walker on him. It was a brilliant idea; she wondered why the thought never occurred to her, too late to do anything about it now.

Their eyes connected briefly before she turned and ran into the trees. Her hope was to at least find Sophia or Rick. The trees did nothing to block out the sun's heat. If anything it made the area more humid. Meredith wiped the sweat from her brow. She clutched the large tree branch she'd found tightly as she looked around for any of the others.

A whimpering caught her attention. Following the noise she found Sophia snuggled up against a tree nook. Her dress was covered in mud and ripped in a few places. Kneeling down Meredith motioned for the girl.

"Sophia, come 'ere." The young girl looked up at the sound of her name. When she recognized the woman she threw herself forward. Wrapping her arms around Meredith Sophia started sobbing. "Tis alright, you're safe now. Let's get you to your ma."

"Rick said to wait here. He led two of them away."

"Ok we can wait for 'im."

A twig snapped behind them. Turning around Meredith found three walkers staring right at her. Pushing Sophia behind her she raised her branch in front of her. She ran forward and shoved the branch into the first walker's face. One of the other walkers grabbed at her as she was trying to pull her weapon away from the first one. Stumbling back Meredith fell; her back slammed into one of the large rocks that sat along the river.

Picking up the rock she smashed it against the walker's head. It fell to the ground allowing her to beat its head in. The walker's head splattered blood and brain matter across her shirt. Looking up Meredith found she was alone. The remaining walker had disappeared as had Sophia.

"Sophia!" She ran down the river searching frantically for the little girl. There were no signs of her or the walker.

She had to keep looking. Returning without the little girl was not an option. She wouldn't be able to look Carol in the eye and tell her she'd lost her daughter. Meredith ran down the river for as long as her tired legs would let her. There weren't any signs to show Sophia had come down that far. She had to have veered off into the trees. If only Meredith had learned to track like her father and brother. She might be able to find her.

Looking up at the darkening sky she realized how late it really was. In a matter of minutes the sun would be gone completely. She didn't know the area during the day there was no way she'd be able to travel through it at night. No telling what could sneak up on her. Her eyes landed on a sturdy looking tree with a branch that sat up at a decent height.

Climbing up as quickly and quietly as she could Meredith hoisted her tired body onto the large branch. She sat with her back against the tree trunk and looked out into the forest. The setting sun cast an ominous glow. She didn't feel safe there. In all honesty she didn't feel safe with Rick's group at all. The only one she'd trust with her life was a backcountry hick that she didn't really care for.

Tilting her head back she closed her eyes in prayer. "Yahweh is mah rock, mah fortress, 'n mah deliverer; mah God, mah rock, in whom Ah take refuge; mah shield, 'n the thorn o' mah salvation, mah high tower. Amen."

Meredith slept fitfully that night. Between worrying for Sophia and the risk of falling out of the tree she wouldn't let herself drift off completely. When she did sleep her dreams were filled with images of a scared little girl being chased by the dead.

Sometime near dawn a loud bell rang out. Sitting up from her perch she looked around trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. She'd learned very quickly to trust her ears. After a few minutes there was another toll. Meredith slid down from the tree branch landing on the ground with a soft thud.

After making sure nothing was going to jump out at her she headed in the direction of the sound. Maybe Sophia had heard it and was making her way there now. Deep down in her gut Meredith knew what the inevitable was; a little girl couldn't survive out in the forest at night.

She came across a small church once the trees opened up. The doors were shut tight. Stepping gingerly through the grass she peered through one of the windows. Five walkers were sitting leisurely in the church pews almost like they were waiting for service to begin. Sophia wasn't there; probably hadn't come this way at all.

"Shite, Sophia where are you?"


	8. Chapter 8

Here's the next chapter. As the story continues some of the chapters will branch away from what's going on in the show. The events will still happen but I won't necessiarly have Meredith witness them. I don't really want to just insert her into the story. I want her to have a story too. As always any feedback is welcome.

Thanks to Kyokkou for the review!

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"This can't be it. Got no steeple. No bells."

Meredith peered around the side of the church. She'd recognized Shane's voice almost instantly. Everyone except for Dale and T-Dog were standing near the front door of the church. They were all looking up at the building as if it might hold the answers they needed.

Carol broke off from the group when she noticed the red head walking toward them. She wrapped her arms tightly around Meredith.

"I thought we'd lost you too."

"Ah'm sorry Carol. Ah had her. Walkers attacked us. Ah tried so hard to find her. Ah tried so hard." She looked anywhere but at the mother before her; she settled on staring at the ground.

"You tried Meredith. That's what matters. At least you're safe now."

"Ah looked in th' window. Sophia's not there; just a few walkers."

Rick opened the doors to the church. The stench that radiated from the building hit them like a tidal wave. Meredith had to cover her mouth to keep from vomiting.

The walkers woke from their lull; some started moving but they were quickly taken care of by Rick, Shane, and Daryl. The women came in and sat amongst the pews while the men checked to make sure the area was truly safe. Daryl strolled by the alter giving the statue of Jesus a brooding look.

"Yo, J.C., you taking any requests?"

Meredith walked toward the Alter; her eyes stayed glued to the tall crucifix. Jesus was staring back at her with sorrow. Only seemed fitting with what was happening. Closing her eyes she bowed respectively before stepping closer.

Kneeling against the cold stone she kept her hands folded neatly on her lap. She still had her head bowed. She thought about everything that had happened. Losing her roommate, finding Rick and the others, learning that the outbreak was everywhere. Her thoughts finally went to the little girl lost somewhere in the woods.

Her parent's had always taught her that everything happened for a reason. God worked in mysterious ways. She was having a hard time understanding what reason God had for allowing that girl to be lost. Taking a deep breath in Meredith remembered what her mother always told her.

_We may nae lik' how come God does th' things he does but he haes a reason; tis not our place to know the reason. It's our job to face the storm keeping th' laird wi' us at a' times._

"Each day 'n each night that Ah place myself under his keeping, Ah shall nae be forgotten. Ah shall nae be destroyed. I shall nae be imprisoned. I shall nae be harassed by evil powers. Lord our father look upon us with mercy. If it's your will let us fin' Sophia. Bring th' wee lass home to her ma. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Meredith started to reach for the silver crucifix that had been given to her before she left for America. Her blood chilled when her fingers grasped at nothing. Grabbing at her neck frantically she searched for the necklace. She must have dropped it somewhere between the highway and the church.

Rushing outside she looked around the ground trying to find the silver chain. Her heart dropped when nothing caught her eye. Shane said something to her but she hadn't caught what the comment was. She was too worried about finding her necklace.

She started for the tree line; she was set on backtracking her way through the forest somehow. She had to find that necklace. A hand grasped her arm roughly pulling her to a stop. Meredith tried breaking free but whoever it was wasn't going to let her go that easily. Turning around she gave Daryl an angry glare.

"Let go."

"What's got you so tore up?"

"Tis none o' your business." She pulled her arm trying to get out of his grasp. He had an almost bored look on his face like he'd been sent to stop her. He let go of her arm suddenly causing Meredith to stumble back. She slammed into the tree behind her with a soft thud. Her lower back stung where she'd hit it the day before.

"You can't go running off. We got to find that little girl."

Her shoulder's sagged. He was right; Sophia was more important than the necklace. She just had to let it go. It had probably fallen somewhere near the river washed away by the current.

"You're right. Tis just Ah lost mah necklace. 'Twas the last thing mah mother gave me afore Ah left Scotland."

Daryl's eyes narrowed slightly in thought. He rubbed his hand on his pants but didn't say anything. She was starting to feel uncomfortable under his gaze. Turning away she stared out into the trees. Part of her was hoping to see Sophia emerging from the forest. Telling everyone she was ok and she just wanted to see her mom.

After the church ended up being a bust Rick sent everyone back to the highway. He was staying behind with Shane and Carl to look longer. Meredith wanted to stay and help. She felt just as much to blame as Rick did. The sheriff had assured her she was needed more with the group. She was a good fighter. They would need her and Daryl to protect the group should they get over run.

Not wanting to get dragged into the pending argument between the women Meredith stayed near the back of the group with Glenn. She liked being around the young Asian man; he reminded her a lot of her younger brother Marco.

She liked talking with Lori and Carol but Andrea was a different story. The blonde had changed since Amy died. She was colder, harsher to pass judgment. She'd been judging Lori for most of the walk back to the highway only because she had a gun. Dale had taken her gun away, he was afraid she would hurt herself. Whether it was a good idea or not didn't matter; if Dale felt it would be better for her to not have it then Meredith wasn't going to get into it. He was older than all of them. Meredith had been raised to respect her elders.

"Where are you from? Ah noticed you didn't have an accent like th' others."

"I was born in Michigan but my family comes from Korea. Do you have any family over here?" Meredith shook her head. Glancing to the left when she heard a loud pop she made sure nothing was sneaking up on them. She rubbed her hands along her pants; being weaponless was making her uneasy.

"Na. All o' mah folk bides in Edinburgh. Ah'm the first to travel overseas."

Meredith and Glenn continued to make small talk as they walked behind the group. She found out that he used to be a pizza delivery guy for one of the pizza places in Atlanta. He moved to Georgia a couple years ago from Michigan. She continued to tell him a few things about her family in Scotland. She told him about the farm she grew up on and her dreams of becoming a writer. Every so often Meredith would catch Daryl glancing back toward them.

"I'm telling you it was a gunshot." Meredith tilted her head slightly at Lori's comment. She didn't remember hearing a gunshot. Thinking back she did recall hearing a popping sound. Now that she thought about it, it had sounded a lot like a gun going off.

"Maybe they took down a walker." Lori turned to shoot Glenn an angry look. Crossing her arms she continued to walk.

"Please don't patronize me. They wouldn't have wasted the bullets."

Meredith rolled her eyes. Lori didn't need to get rude with Glenn. He was just offering a solution to what the noise might have been. She was about to voice that when the conversation switched to Sophia. Meredith stayed silent; she was still feeling guilty about what happened. She should have been able to protect the little girl. Daryl had turned to look at her again. They made eye contact; she couldn't quite place the look he was giving her but it calmed her. It was like he understood how she was feeling without her having to say anything.

"We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth." Lori put a comforting arm around Carol trying to sooth the scared mother.

"I'll tell ya what it's worth. Not a damn thing. It's a waste of time, all this hopin' and prayin'. We're gonna locate that little girl. She's gonna be just fine." Daryl continued to trudge forward through the trees. Meredith watched him glance around making sure no walkers were around.

His comment caught them all off guard; it was a little brass but he was forcing them to feel hope. Daryl was so sure Sophia was still alive that she couldn't help but believe him. She wanted to hold on to the hope.

A slimy hand grasped around her elbow. She turned coming face to face with a rotting walker. Falling backward Meredith tried grabbing something she could use to protect herself. Her fingers only grasped around dirt.

Lunging forward with a knife Glenn dug it deep into the walker's skull. "Meredith are you alright?"

"Aye. Thank you Glenn."

Glenn helped pull her to her feet. Looking around they found Andrea had also been attacked. The walker was lying dead on the ground with an arrow sticking out of its skull. A snarling drew their attention to a third walking coming near them. Daryl raised his cross bow but stopped when the outline of a horse came into view. The stranger on the back of the horse raised a baseball bat and smashed it against the walker's head.

The stranger, a woman with short brown hair stared at all of them silently. Her eyes roamed around the group frantically searching out someone in particular.

"Lori Grimes? Rick sent me. You've got to come now."

* * *

The group returned to the highway just before sunset. Lori had gone with the strange woman to see Carl. Something had happened in the forest; the gunshot they heard was the young boy being shot. The strange woman had left them clear instructions on how to get to her father's farm.

Carol had heard one word of leaving and she'd put her foot down; it actually made Meredith happy to see the woman standing up for herself for once. It had been hinted to her that Carol's husband had been violent toward her and their daughter.

"We can't just leave." Dale and Glenn tried reasoning with the woman.

"Carol, the group is split."

"What if she comes back and we're not here?"

Carol had a point. Meredith knew it and so did the others. If the little girl came back but they were all gone there was no saying what she'd do. She might stay put or venture back into the trees. Regardless of what the group decided Meredtih knew she wasn't leaving. She was going to keep looking for Sophia.

"Ah'm staying. Ah will keep an eye out for her."

"I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies." Dale and the others seemed to agree with Daryl. One by one they all decided to stay. The only two not staying were Glenn and T-Dog.

During the attack T-Dog had been injured after falling onto a jagged car piece. He cut his arm pretty badly and it was becoming infected. They needed to get him to the doctor that was taking care of Carl. Fortunately Daryl had a few of his brother's pain pills. It seemed the older Dixon had a problem with venereal diseases. She cringed at the thought of it. After grabbing supplies the two left for the Greene Farm.

Meredith clutched her axe tightly as she walked up and down the aisles of cars. Daryl and Andrea had chosen to venture back into the woods to see if they could find any signs of Sophia. She hadn't wanted to sit around the RV; watching Carol only caused the guilt to double. Instead she chose to head back to the car she'd been going through yesterday.

Thankfully the clothes she'd set aside were still there. Stuffing them in her bag she made sure to grab the dress for Sophia. She wanted to make sure the little girl had something nice to wear when she came back. By the time she made it back to the RV Andrea and Daryl had come back. Andrea was speaking softly to Dale as the older man gave her gun back. Meredith silently hoped none of them would regret his decision.

A large hunting knife was suddenly thrust in her face. Blinking in confusion she looked up at Daryl. He didn't say anything just wiggled his hand indicating she should take the knife.

"What's this for?"

"You need something when yer not carrying your axe. Can't be worrying about you gittin' chewed on by a walker."

Meredith watched Daryl walk away. He was still searching out into the tree line. It was like he was hoping Sophia would emerge at any minute. It warmed her heart to watch him. He could be an unpleasant person to be around. Every so often she would catch a glimpse of a different Daryl. When he wasn't acting like a complete asshole he was actually a pretty good guy. Not that she would admit it to anyone but Meredith was starting to not mind having the red neck around.


	9. Chapter 9

Here's the next chapter! As always enjoy and I'm always welcome to any feedback you may have. I try to keep everyone in character as best as I can; if you feel like anyone is too out of character just let me know!

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The sun was just starting to rise when the rest of the group pulled up to the Greene farm. Meredith, Andrea, and Daryl had all taken turns keeping watch and looking for Sophia. When the sun first started to peak over the horizon they'd all agreed to move on. Both Carol and Meredith were reluctant but Dale was right. They had to regroup with Rick and the others.

Meredith felt a peace roll through her at the sight of the farm. It was very similar to her home in Scotland minus a few sheep here and there. She was glad to be somewhere that felt familiar even if the reasons for finding the place weren't good.

She leaned against a tree several yards away from the group. They were holding a funeral for one of the men that lived on the farm. He'd died helping Shane on a supply run. She didn't know the man but he'd died to save a child. That made him good in her books.

A shiver ran through her spine as Hershel, the owner of the farm, started the service. Meredith wasn't big on funerals; they always made her uncomfortable so she'd elected to only observe from a distance.

Hershel Greene was a gentle but fierce man. He was a veterinarian but had done a pretty good job at patching up Carl. His two daughters, Maggie and Beth lived with him along with two others, Jimmy and Patricia.

Her eyes landed on Shane as he started to give his account of what happened. He'd cut all of his hair off since she'd seen him last. The buzz cut gave him a sinister look; Meredith had a feeling he was hiding something. There was darkness in his eyes that wasn't there before. Something was off about Shane; she made a mental note to stay away from the man from now on.

After the funeral they started building a plan for looking for Sophia. Hershel laid out a large map across the hood of one of his cars. He marked off where the farm and highway were.

"How long has this girl been lost?"

Rick ran his hand across his face. The last few days were really starting to take a toll on him. "This will be day three." He looked down at the map Hershel had set up. "This will be great. We can grid the area. Really get a plan going."

Hershel shook his head. "Not today you won't. You gave three units of blood. You won't make it five minutes out there. Neither will you with your ankle." He nodded toward Shane's foot. Both men slumped their shoulders in defeat.

"Guess it's just me. I'm gonna head back to the creek. Work my way from there."

"Aye, Ah will help too." Meredith glanced at Daryl from the corner of her eye. He didn't look too happy that she'd volunteered to help. It didn't matter what he wanted or what she wanted for that matter. They were the only two that could really do anything to help look for Sophia at the moment.

Rummaging through her bag she pulled out a clean shirt. It was similar to the one she'd just taken off. It was a light gray button up that went over her white tank top. After pulling her hair into a high ponytail she grabbed her axe and headed back to the front of the house.

Daryl was already standing there with an impatient look. He'd also changed choosing to put on a long sleeve flannel instead of his normal cut off sleeves. Rick was talking to him and by the looks of it whatever the Sherriff said didn't sit well with Daryl. He said something she didn't quite catch and walked quickly towards her.

"You don't hafta come. I can do it myself."

"You can't get rid o' me that easily. Ah'm going to help." He didn't look happy with her response but chose not to say anything. The two walked through the trees quietly while Daryl tracked them back to the creek.

Meredith had never learned how to track. Her father always talked about teaching her but they'd never gotten to it. Danny was the only one of the three siblings that had actually learned. She watched Daryl move slowly with his eyes glued to the ground. Every so often he would pick something up or move some leaves away. It was fascinating to watch him search out clues that could help them find Sophia.

"Can you teach me t' track?" Daryl glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. He didn't answer her causing her to fidget with the end of her ponytail. Clearly he wasn't one for small talk. "Mah Da was going t' teach me but…."

She chose to stay quiet after her failed attempt at talking to him. Daryl looked for any signs of footprints or snapped twigs that would indicate Sophia had gone that way. Since she didn't really know a lot about what he was doing she kept an eye out for any walkers. Around noon they came across a log cabin.

Daryl walked through first with his cross bow pointed out in front of him. Once he was sure there were no immediate threats he motioned for her to enter. It looked like the cabin had been abandoned for quite sometime. Probably long before the outbreak.

Holding tightly onto her axe Meredith slowly ventured up the stairs. She strained to listen for any noises indicating they weren't alone. The second floor was a lot smaller than Meredith had anticipated. There was only one bedroom and a bathroom. A thick layer of dirt coated the bedroom. It was clear no one had been there for a while.

With her back still turned away from the bedroom door she didn't hear the shuffling feet behind her. Blackened fingers gripped at her shoulder tightly. Meredith spun around trying to avoid the walker. She stumbled over her feet and slammed hard into the wall. Lifting her axe up she jabbed the end of it into the walker's face. Blood smeared across the wall as it fell to the ground.

Daryl was halfway up the stairs when she came out. He had his crossbow raised ready to attack. Raising her blood-smeared axe she gave him a weak smile. "Ah'm fine. Son o' a bitch snuck up on me."

"Ya need to be aware of yer surroundin's. I found somethin." Meredith followed him back down the stairs. In the kitchen there was a small cabinet. Inside sat a blanket and an empty can of sardines. Looked a lot like someone had been staying there; might have been Sophia.

"Do you think we'll fin' her?"

"Ain't any reason we won't." Daryl led her out of the cabin. Finding the cubby that might have been Sophia's had renewed his motivation. "Sophia!"

They continued to walk along the creek back toward the farm. Finding the cabin had been a good lead but they still hadn't found the little girl. It wasn't getting harder for Meredith to stay positive. It'd been three days since the herd passed through the highway. If Sophia hadn't turned up yet chances were she wouldn't. Meredith had watched enough of those old detective movies growing up.

Daryl walked along the water bank several feet ahead of her. At one point he stopped to pluck a small flower from one of the bushes. Meredith stared at the white flower curiously but she didn't ask him about it; she figured there was a reason for it. What was eating away at her was the conversation Daryl had with Rick. He hadn't seemed happy with what the Sherriff said.

"What did Rick say t' you afore?"

"It's none of yer business." Meredith rolled her eyes. He was really starting to grate on her nerves. All she was trying to do was make conversation. She mumbled a quick apology before brushing passed him. Getting back to the farm sounded a lot better than staying out there with grouchy pants.

The sun had been set for a while when they finally made it back. Meredith was walking several feet ahead of Daryl. His mood seemed to only get worse the closer to the farm they got. Right as they were emerging from the tree line he stopped walking. She hadn't noticed he'd stopped until he said something.

"I found this near the creek."

She turned around to fix him with a curious look. Daryl was standing there looking extremely uncomfortable. His hand rubbed against his jeans nervously. The scene overall was quite amusing but Daryl didn't seem the type to take a little teasing so she chose to stay quiet. After a few seconds of Meredith looking at him and Daryl looking anywhere but at her he finally pulled something silver out of his pocket.

Even before he'd opened his hand completely she recognized her necklace. Reaching out Meredith took the chain as tears threatened to fall; she took a deep breath to keep her emotions in check.

"Thank you." Reaching up she wrapped her arms around Daryl tightly. She could feel him stiffen against her before she was pushed back roughly.

"Why'd you go 'n do something like that?" Daryl narrowed his eyes at her. Before she could say anything he stormed past her giving her shoulder a rough bump.

Meredith watched after him unsure what she'd done wrong. He found her necklace and she was just saying thank you. It wasn't uncommon for her to give people hugs. It didn't seem like American's had a problem with that. Apparently he did; shaking her head she walked back toward the rest of the group.

Everything seemed to be quiet; from what Glenn was telling her the only thing that had happened while they were gone was finding a walker in one of the wells. He also filled her in on his little adventure for supplies with the farmer's daughter. Seemed Glenn had gotten to play hero and gotten a little action in the process.

"Look at you... Th' farmer's daughter huh?" Meredith laughed at the scarlet color that darkened Glenn's cheeks. He leaned against the banister while she looked out at the land. Most of the others had ventured into their tents for the night or were lounging inside the house. Hershel didn't seem happy about the latter; from her understanding he'd made it clear that they were not welcome.

The only straggler left was Daryl. He'd come out of the RV a few minutes previously and headed for his tent. He'd set it up on the outskirts of the group. It seemed he was set on not acclimating with the group. She knew it wasn't working though, even if he hadn't realized it himself. Someone who didn't want to be apart of the group wouldn't search so adamantly for a little girl. They also wouldn't return a lost necklace.

Standing up she stretched the soreness out of her muscles. Her back stung slightly where she'd smacked it the other day. After bidding good night to Glenn she wandered toward the RV. She wanted to check in on Carol before calling it a night.

The RV was considerably cleaner than the last time she'd been inside. Someone must have been a nervous cleaner; Meredith had a few guesses on who it could be. Her number one suspect was sitting in the back of the vehicle fidgeting with her hands.

"How're you doing Carol?" The older woman looked up from her hands. With a soft smile she stood to give Meredith a hug.

"I'll be better when Sophia's back. I wanted to make the RV a little more homely for her."

"Tis lovely in here." Her eyes landed on a white flower sitting on the table. Meredith recognized it as the flower Daryl had picked out in the forest. "Did Daryl give tha' to you?"

A smile spread across Carol's face. "He called it a Cherokee Rose. Said it was an old Native American legend. Something about being a sign Sophia was going to be ok."

Meredith gave Carol one last hug before grabbing her bag. She wandered around the farm silently keeping an eye out. She didn't have a tent, which meant she had nowhere to sleep. While they were traveling she had been in the RV but now that they had set up camp she wasn't going to take Dale, Andrea, and Carol's sleeping arraignment.

She found a tree facing near the forest that looked to be a good spot. Tossing her bag down she pulled out a thin blanket. It had been a gift from her roommate Lila and one of the only things she'd been able to grab from her apartment before walkers overran it. Meredith wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and set her axe across her lap. She didn't anticipate getting much sleep but at least she could keep an eye out just in case anything happened.


	10. Chapter 10

Here's the next chapter (: I'm going to try to update again this weekend. Enjoy. As always any feedback is welcome.

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"Meredith wake up sweetheart." At the sound of Carol's voice Meredith sat up. Blinking rapidly she looked around the area. She must have fallen asleep at one point through the night. The older woman was kneeling over her with a kind smile. "Why are you sleeping out here?"

"Ah don't have anywhere to sleep."

"All you had to do was ask. Anyone of us would be willing to share."

Meredith shrugged uncomfortably. She didn't like asking people for help. "Ah didn't want t' put anybody out."

"It wouldn't have put us out. It's better to know you have some shelter than to leave yourself out to the elements. I'm on my way to help Lori with the laundry. Did you want to come help?"

She scrunched her face at the thought of laundry. She hated doing laundry; having two brothers meant she was always horsing around with them and putting off her chores. Looking around her eyes landed on the men huddled around the car. They looked to be planning for another search.

"Ah think Ah will help search for Sophia again."

This time it looked like Rick had a whole group of people ready to start searching. Even one of Hershel's people wanted to help. He looked barely old enough to really know what it was like to have to kill someone _or something_ but Meredith wasn't going to question Rick's decisions. She walked up right when Daryl was saying he was going to borrow a horse and head up near the ridge.

"Maybe you'll see your Chupacabra up there too." Daryl and Shane glared at each other with narrowed eyes. It seemed the two weren't getting along too well this morning.

After a few short words between Daryl and Shane, Rick started splitting the group up. T-Dog and Andrea would partner up with Hershel's boy Jimmy while Shane and Rick paired off. That meant Daryl and Meredith were the only two left to be paired. They weren't the only two that didn't seem thrilled about it; Shane was shooting both of them dark looks. She wasn't sure exactly what she'd done to piss him off. She'd only been up for a few minutes.

"I'm fine looking for Sophia alone."

"Aye, we can search more o' the grid if we split up."

Rick only shook his head at their complaints. "We can't afford to split ourselves too thin. Everyone goes with a buddy when ever they go into the trees."

Meredith trudged after Daryl. She held her axe tightly and looked around the forest. She was not thrilled at all to be spending another full day with that specific group member. He was still acting strange toward her and was refusing to even acknowledge her. With an aggravated sigh she tried catching up to him.

"Wha' exactly is a Chupacabra?"

Daryl didn't respond to her question. He just shook the reigns prompting his horse to move a little quicker. She could feel her face starting to heat up. She hadn't done anything for him to be treating her this way. Walking closer to the horse she tried giving him a dirty look.

"Are you going t' ignore me the entire time?"

"This ain't about you. We hafta look for Sophia."

She stopped walking after his comment. He was trying to infer that she was making the situation about her when that wasn't even close to true. She liked to talk and it bothered her when people refused to talk to her. Meredith stomped her foot; he was making her feel like a child.

"Daryl Dixon, ye'r going t' stop this right now!" Pulling the reigns he steered the horse to a stop. Glancing down at her Daryl gave her a smug look. He was getting under her skin; they both knew it. It was starting to piss her off.

"Easy there Fire Cracker. Don't hafta yell." Her blood was boiling. He had to be acting like this on purpose. There was no way one person could be so infuriating. She was about to say something when Daryl's horse suddenly reared up.

Meredith fell backward dropping her axe as she tried to avoid the tumbling horse. Daryl was thrown from the horse's back. He landed on the ground with a rough smack. He fell against her causing them both to stumble backward. The ground started to give way throwing them back further.

She was able to grab onto a hanging tree branch preventing her from falling down the hillside. Daryl wasn't as lucky. He rolled head over heels until he slammed onto the rocky creek bed. She peered down to see he wasn't moving. She was hanging from the tree branch over the edge of the hill; her hands were starting to sting against the tree bark.

Swinging forward Meredith tried getting a grip on the ground with her boot. Her foot grasped on the dirt but she couldn't get a good hold. Her body swung back forcing her hands to scrap against the branch. She could feel the top layer of her hands peeling off.

"Shite!" Looking down she saw Daryl still hadn't moved. The fall must have knocked him out, if he was still even alive. "Daryl!"

Meredith glanced around trying to figure out what she could do. If she dropped to the ground the momentum might break something. The last thing she needed was to break a bone; she'd be useless. It would only be a matter of time before her body forced her to fall anyway. Her arms were starting to cramp; the branch dug into her bleeding hands.

Swinging again she tried to ignore the pain in her hands. Thrusting her body as far forward as she could, she dug her boot into the forest ground. Pulling herself Meredith started to steady her footing. Suddenly a walker stumbled into the clearing. It grasped at her stomach causing her to fall back.

Fortunately her hands were still clutching the tree branch. She could feel more of her skin scrap off as she swung back and forth. The walker tried following after her; it followed Daryl's path down the hill landing several feet away from the unconscious man.

The fall didn't kill the walker. It caught sight of Daryl and started crawling toward him. Meredith's eyes widened. She only had two options. Try to wake Daryl up or drop down to help him. The second option didn't seem to be appealing at the moment. Chances were she'd break a leg and the walker would get her instead.

"Daryl! Wake up! Daryl, you have t' get up!"

The walker was getting closer to him; it had started gnawing on his boot. Its filthy hands clawed at his leg. Meredith was about to let go of the branch when he started to move. Daryl mumbled something she couldn't quite hear. It sounded a lot like he was saying his brother's name. His eyes finally opened and she could see them widen when he caught sight of the walker.

Meredith watched him shuffle back quickly before lodging an arrow into the walker's head. He looked around confused for several minutes. It almost looked like he was looking around for someone. She thought maybe it was her but when he spoke it was clear Daryl wasn't talking to anyone that was there.

"I ain't nobody's bitch."

"Ah'm sure whoever you're talking to is a stoatin conversationalist but Ah'm needing a little help up 'ere." Daryl's head shot up to look at her. He seemed surprised to see that she was still there.

After hoisting his crossbow onto his back Daryl started climbing up the hill. He was using a combination of a stick and one of his arrows to pull himself up the side. He hadn't said anything to her yet but he didn't seem to be happy at all. It was clear he was still having some kind of argument with some invisible being; Meredith had a feeling it might be his brother. A quarter of the way up Daryl lost his footing and fell landing hard on his back. His head hit the rocky floor with a sickening thud.

"Daryl!" He wasn't moving and Meredith could see something sticking out of his side. It looked like one of his arrows had pierced his side when he fell. "Shite, Daryl!"

Her arms were starting to tire. She wasn't going to be able to hold on much longer. Blood had started to slide down her wrists. Looking down she saw Daryl still wasn't moving. She was going to have to do something and soon.

Taking a deep breath she let go of the branch. Meredith only had a few seconds to prepare before she slammed feet first onto the ground. Her legs gave out forcing her to slam down onto her knee. The impact caused vibrations to radiate through her bones. She was pretty sure she might have sprained her ankle and she wouldn't be surprised if her kneecap was shattered.

"Fuck!" Meredith forced herself to crawl toward Daryl. He had yet to move which was starting to worry her. It was very likely he'd killed himself when he fell especially since there was an arrow in his side. "Daryl, wake up."

Reaching out she grasped his arm tightly. Her touch seemed to jump start him. Daryl jerked forward in surprise. He hissed at the pain in his side; they both looked down at the arrow imbedded in his skin. It was a shallow wound but it would still hurt like hell when the arrow got pulled out.

"You'd best shut the hell up."

Meredith was caught off guard by his comment. She stared at him for a few seconds before realizing he still wasn't talking to her. She tried touching the side of his face to get a look at his eyes. She'd seen her share of concussion victims back home and vaguely knew what to look for. When her hand grazed her cheek Daryl jerked back almost as if he'd been burned.

"What the hell you doing?"

"Ah'm watching for a concussion. You hit your head."

"I don't need yer help." He pulled himself to his feet and started looking for his crossbow. Meredith tried standing but the sharp pain in her leg was preventing her from moving. When Daryl noticed she hadn't moved from her spot he turned toward her. She was grasping her ankle with a grimace on her face. After grabbing his crossbow from the water Daryl walked over to her. She noticed he also had a doll in his hand. It looked a lot like Sophia's.

"Is tha' Sophia's?"

Daryl nodded. Clutching the doll tighter he looked out into the forest. "Sophia!"

Meredith tried standing again to help but her leg gave out. She heard the snarling before she saw either of them. Two walkers stumbled into the area drawn in by Daryl's shouting. Stepping back he tried loading his crossbow. The arrow in his side was preventing him from pulling the bow string into place.

One of the walkers started toward her. It's leg dragged behind it slowing it down considerably. Meredith couldn't stand to get away from it; crawling back she grabbed the hunting knife that was holstered at her hip. Becoming anxious over the prospect of food the walker fell forward trying to grab at her. Thrusting the knife upward Meredith's hand slid through its face like butter.

She gagged at the feeling of the slimy skin sliding across her hand. Dropping her knife she rubbed her hand across her shirt trying to get the remains of the walker off of her. Daryl walked over after having taken care of his own walker. He'd pulled the arrow from his side to use as a weapon when he couldn't get his cross bow to load.

Looking down at her he jerked his head at her foot. "What'd you do?"

"Ah had to get down here 'n make sure you were ok. Th' only way down was to let go."

Daryl turned away from her; her eyes landed on the blood seeping through his shirt from the arrow. He seemed to be arguing with himself again. He was mumbling incoherent words to no one in particular. She wasn't entirely sure he didn't have a concussion.

"Why'd you go and do that?" Meredith didn't respond. She just gave him a pointed look. She shouldn't have to say why she would want to save him. Even if they didn't get along all the time he was part of their group. "I ain't going to carry you."

"Ah don't need anybody to carry me." Struggling to her feet she tried her best to ignore the stabbing pain shooting through her leg. Daryl was giving her a look that clearly said he didn't believe her. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her in pain; she didn't need anyone to help her.

Daryl started climbing the side of the hill again. She slowly started following him. The bending of her leg was unbearable but she wasn't going to cave and ask him to carry her. She wasn't weak; she didn't need anyone to help her survive. The climb was excruciatingly slow. Daryl had slipped a few times and almost came tumbling down on top of her. Neither of them would survive that fall if it happened again.

When she was almost to the top she paused. Her legs and arms had grown so tired they were refusing to cooperate. Daryl had already made it over the edge. He was mumbling to himself again; sounded like he'd called someone a 'bastard' a few times.

"Daryl… Ah need help." At first there was no response from the man. He looked around the clearing with a disgruntled look. For half a second she seriously thought he was going to leave her behind before his face peered over the edge.

Reaching down Daryl grasped her arm. With his help she was able to finish climbing. When her foot cleared the edge Meredith's legs gave out from exhaustion. Before she could hit the ground Daryl's arms wrapped tightly around her. He helped steady her; his arms stayed around her longer than actually needed. Meredith chuckled softly trying to avoid an awkward situation.

"Look a' you being mah hero." Daryl stepped back so quickly she had to catch herself. He gave her an annoyed look as he walked away.

"I ain't anyone's hero."

The two walked back toward the farm silently. Daryl was walking several steps ahead of her. He was doing his best to steer clear of her. She tried ignoring the pain building up in her ankle; it was unbearable to walk on. Her knee didn't feel much better. Meredith was surprised she hadn't fallen over from exhaustion or even pain yet. Overall she felt like death on her feet.

Daryl was the first to break through the tree line. He shuffled along not bothering to wait for her. She was starting to get agitated; she hadn't done anything wrong. Why was he acting so cold toward her?

"Alright slow down! Ah can barely walk." She didn't think she could take another step. As much as she didn't want to admit it she was going to need Daryl's help.

For once that day he listened to her. He paused but didn't turn to look at her. Rick, Shane, and Glenn were walking toward him with their guns raised. They must have mistaken him for a walker because they refused to lower their guns even when they were standing within ten feet of him.

Daryl did have a considerable more amount of blood and grime on him than he did when they'd left that morning. She would have probably made the same mistake. She could only imagine what she looked like.

"That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?" Meredith rolled her eyes. This wasn't the time for joking around. A look of relief flashed across Rick's face. He started to lower his gun when a shot rang through the air.

Daryl hit the ground hard.


	11. Chapter 11

I decided to go a head and update today. I haven't had work the last two days because of the weather. I might try to get another one out Sunday as a special treat. Thanks for the review! As always any feedback is welcome. Anything you think needs to be changed or even if it's just to tell me what you like; I welcome it all. Enjoy!

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"Daryl!" Forgetting about her injured leg she ran forward. Dropping to her knees she rolled him onto his back. It looked like the bullet had grazed the side of his head; he groaned as she moved him. Meredith let a breath she was holding out.

The three men ran toward them. Shane and Rick dipped down to help Daryl to his feet. Blinking rapidly he looked between the three men. "I was kidding."

Glenn's eyes landed on Meredith's swollen ankle. His eyes widened at the severity of the injury. Hooking his arms under hers he lifted her to her feet. She tried pushing him away to show she could stand on her own.

"Ah will be fine Glenn. You should help them wi' Daryl."

"You need help too Meredith. That ankle looks like shit." As if on cue her ankle sent a sharp sting running up her leg. Wincing she almost fell over but Glenn was able to steady her. They started walking trying to catch up to Rick and Shane. Daryl had Sophia's doll tucked in his belt; Glenn paused when he saw it.

"Isn't that Sophia's?" The two police officers stopped to look behind them. They followed Glenn's gaze to the doll tucked behind the red neck.

Limping forward Meredith motioned for Glenn to bring her closer. Reaching her hand out she grabbed the doll tightly. She was starting to get light headed from all of the walking.

"He found 't by the creek bed. We tried looking for her but Ah busted mah leg 'n Daryl took a nasty fall."

With a soft smile Rick held his hand out for the doll. "This is good. We can ask Daryl more about it when he wakes up."

"Oh my God, is he dead?" Andrea had run up while they were talking. She was holding a gun in her hand and she had a worried look on her face. At the sight of Daryl's limp form her face paled.

"Unconscious. You grazed him."

Meredith narrowed her eyes. She stopped walking as they were about to pass Andrea; Glenn shot her a confused look but she only ignored him. "What th' hell is wrong with you? You're so set on bein' tough 'n carrying a gun. You almost fucking murdered him. Dale was right to take your gun."

Andrea looked like she wanted to protest but one glare from the red head quickly silenced her. Glenn started leading her toward the house again. She only made it a few feet further before her vision started to cloud. Meredith swayed as she tried to steady herself. Glenn was speaking to her but he sounded so far away. She tried blinking the black dots out of her eyes. The last thing she saw before her head hit the ground was Glenn trying desperately to keep her from falling.

"_I had no idea we'd be going through so many antibiotics. It's a wonder your group has survived this long."_

Meredith blinked her eyes; her vision was still fuzzy. She could see the outline of a few people. It looked like they were in the same room Carl had been staying in. Someone, she thought it might be Hershel, was leaning over a lump on the bed.

"_How is he?"_

Was it Carol talking? Or Andrea? She couldn't really tell. If it was Andrea she had a few more choice words to say. It was really reckless for her to shoot at them without confirming either of them were walkers. Meredith wanted to voice that but her mouth wouldn't work.

The only sound she was able to get out was a soft moan. It caught the attention of someone but she couldn't make out who it was. Her vision was still too blurry. A cold rag was placed against her forehead. It startled her and Meredith tried pushing it away. The soothing southern drawl that belonged to Maggie reached her ears.

"It's alright. You're just a little dehydrated. Drink this." She hadn't realized how thirsty she was until Maggie placed the cup of cool water to her lips. Her body relaxed as the water slid down her throat. Meredith didn't think she had tasted anything so delicious before. Her eyes started to droop before Maggie had finished pulling the cup away.

When Meredith opened her eyes again it was just her and Daryl in the room. She started to sit up when she noticed her hands had been bandaged. Looking down her eyes landed on another bandage wrapped around her ankle. It still looked swollen but it seemed to be better.

Daryl was sitting up in the bed with his arms crossed. It gave her the impression of a pouting child. She failed at trying to stifle a giggle causing him to shoot his gaze toward her.

"You laughing at me?"

Sitting up further she shrugged her shoulders. She was just glad they were both ok. "You look lik' a pouting child when you do tha'."

"I ain't a child." He turned slightly so he didn't have to look at her. Meredith caught sight of stitches on the side of his head. Andrea must have gotten him worse than she thought.

"But you admit you're pouting?"

The only response she got was a grunt. Daryl kept his body slightly turned from her. Meredith didn't understand what she'd done to be treated like this. Sure she'd said a few rude things to him when they first met but he couldn't be holding that against her.

"Are you going t' pout at me for the duration of the apocalypse? If you are can you at least tell me what Ah did wrong?"

Daryl opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted when Carol knocked softly on the door. She shot a small smile to both of them before raising her hands to show a food tray with enough servings for the two of them. Meredith's stomach growled in response causing both women to laugh softly.

"How are you two feeling?"

Daryl shrugged. "As good as I look."

"Tis nothing that Ah can't handle; Ah'll be up 'n about soon enough."

"I brought you two something to eat." Carol set the tray on Daryl's lap. She ignored his protest about stitches as she grabbed a plate for Meredith. The red head eagerly took the sandwich; her mouth was watering just at the idea of eating. "Thank you Meredith for helping Daryl look for my little girl. I know you two don't necessarily see eye to eye. And Daryl I need to say something to you. You did more for Sophia today than her own daddy ever did in his whole life."

Both Meredith and Daryl shifted uncomfortably. Neither of them liked to accept praise from anyone. Daryl tried to play nonchalant as he took a bite out of his own sandwich.

"I didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done."

"I know. You're every bit as good as them."

Carol left the room not letting Daryl get another word in. He was staring at the door with a grumpy look. Clearly he had a different opinion about what type of person he was. Mumbling to himself he settled down to eat.

"She's right. You're just as good a man as th' others."

He eyed her suspiciously. Swallowing the bite of sandwich in his mouth he frowned at her. "Don't you start too."

"Ah'm serious Daryl. You keep fighting for the lass. Not many would do that. Ah've heard Shane mumbling about leaving her behind but you won't do that will you?"

Daryl stared at her with an unreadable look. He took another bite of his sandwich. Chewing, he was quiet for a long time but he never took his eyes off her.

"You'd do the same."

"Aye Ah would. But Ah'm not the one who thinks Ah'm not a good person."

"Why do ya care anyhow?"

Meredith picked at her food. He'd asked a good question. Why did she care? Over the last few days she'd gotten to see a different side to Daryl. A side she didn't think came out often when Merle was around. He was still watching her waiting for her to answer his question. She shrugged unsure exactly what her answer was going to be.

"Ah just want you to know that you're a good person. Regardless o' who your brother is."

He narrowed his eyes at her comment but didn't say anything else. She could tell that what she'd said didn't sit well with him. He was very protective of his brother. For whatever reason Daryl had chosen to just let it go. She continued to observe him from her spot on the couch. He'd finished eating and had moved onto picking at a piece of string sticking out of the blanket.

His behavior toward her was still bothering her. As far as she knew she hadn't really done anything to piss him off. Meredith didn't like it when people disliked her for no reason.

"Wha' did Ah do to piss you off?"

Daryl's eyes shot up to look at her. Squinting at her he stayed quiet for a few minutes. Meredith thought he wasn't going to answer her. Right when she was about to tell him to forget it Daryl opened his mouth.

"Never said I was pissed at ya."

"Then how come you treat me th' way you do? Ah'm trying to be your friend."

Breaking eye contact he turned to look out the window. The scowl on his face had deepened. It was clear Daryl wasn't big on talking about emotions. She wasn't going to give up though; it was real tiring having to deal with two different sides of the man.

"Don't got time to be making friends." Meredith stared back at him in disbelief. He was acting this way because he didn't want to have friends? What kind of back assward excuse was that?

"That's your excuse? You 'don't git time to mak' friends'? If you haven't checked now is th' time to be making friends. We need t' stick together."

The angry look in Daryl's eyes caught her off guard. He narrowed his eyes even more to the point that they were almost closed. Sticking out his finger he pointed it at her accusingly.

"Those so called friends is the ones who left my brother behind."

Rolling her eyes she struggled to stand up. Her ankle protested but there was no way she was staying in the same room with him. He was being unreasonable. Meredith had no part in what happened to Merle; Daryl sure as hell was acting like it. It'd been weeks since that happened. Was he going to hold a grudge against her for what Rick did?

When she started to move Daryl sat up in confusion. "Where the hell you going?" She tried ignoring him. Tried to give him a little taste of what it was like for someone not to respond when they were being spoken to. "Red where ya going?"

"Quit calling me tha'! Mah name is Meredith damn it!" Clutching the dresser next to her she started toward the door. She could see him moving to get out of the bed; probably to try and stop her. Pointing her finger at him she scowled in his direction. "You stay right there. Ah'm not staying in 'ere for another minute. "

There was a space between the dresser and the door that didn't have anything for her to hold onto. Daryl was still struggling to get out of bed, the stitches in his side proved to be quite the obstacle. Stepping gingerly on her bad foot Meredith tried reaching for the door handle. Pain shot up her leg causing her face to scrunch. It had clearly been a bad idea to walk on her foot; she should have just told Daryl to leave, he had a lot more mobility than she did.

Her hand tightened around the doorknob right as her ankle finally gave out. Stumbling forward she pushed the door open to reveal a very surprised Glenn. He had been in the process of reaching for the door handle when she threw it open. The momentum pushed her forward. Glenn had just enough time to react before she fell into his arms.

"What the hell are you doing Meredith? You shouldn't be walking on that." Using his shoulders to pull herself up she leaned against the wall behind her. Jerking her head back she motioned toward Daryl. He'd managed to sit himself up but hadn't bothered to stand up once she made it through the doorway.

"Ah'm not staying in there with 'im any longer. Help me get t' the living room or Ah'll do it mahself."

Glenn glanced between the two confused on what had happened. He was just going to check on Meredith when she'd come flying out of the room. Daryl was sitting on the bed with a frown. His arms were crossed and he was shooting glares at the back of her head.

When Glenn made no moves to help her Meredith started to limp down the hallway. Moving quickly he put his arm around her waist trying to pull some of the weight off her foot. Shooting him a thankful glance she put her arm on his shoulder to steady her-self. Halfway down the hallway they heard a door slam loudly.


	12. Chapter 12

I was hoping to get this out on Sunday but I got sick. My goal is to get another one out by this weekend. Enjoy and as always any feedback is welcome! One request that I've gotten is to make the chapters longer. Most of the chapters I've been posting have already been written (I'm currently working on Chapter 19); I'm going to work on making chapters that I haven't written yet longer (:

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Meredith shifted uncomfortably. After her disagreement with Daryl neither had spoken to the other. He'd been allowed to move out to his tent after the first night while she'd been stuck inside the house for nearly two days.

Her foot was propped up against the table while she sat in the living room. Hershel would only let her move around the house; she'd tried sneaking outside but hadn't gotten very far before the farmer forced her back inside.

She put the book she was failing to read down. Her mind kept wandering to Sophia. Glenn was keeping her updated and so far nothing had changed. The optimism was starting to dwindle in the group. Meredith knew it was only a matter of time before everyone gave up.

"Are you trying to buy my silence with fruit?" She turned at the sound of Glenn's voice. He didn't sound happy to be talking to whoever was in the kitchen with him.

Groaning Meredith hobbled to her feet. Her knee was healing just fine but her ankle still felt like it'd been snapped in half. Using the wall as her guide she limped to the kitchen doorway. Glenn was turned slightly away from her talking to Maggie. Neither of them had noticed her yet.

"Will you please tell me why your dad has a secret barn full of walkers?"

"What?!" The two turned startled at her outburst. She limped into the kitchen giving Maggie a hard look. "Your father has what in th' barn?"

"Meredith you can't tell anyone."

Shaking her head she stepped forward. Her ankle twisted wrong and she stumbled against the wall. Glenn rushed over to steady her; he kept his arm around her. Grimacing she kept her foot raised slightly.

"Ah'm trying to wrap mah head around what Ah just heard. Glenn, how long have you known?"

"I found out last night." Meredith looked up at Maggie's pleading eyes. There had to be a reason Hershel was hiding a barn full of walkers. Rick and the others needed to know; they needed to decide if they were going to stay there.

"Ah'm needin' some air."

After grabbing the basket of fruit from Maggie Glenn helped guide her outside. They sat on the edge of the stairs staring out onto the farm. Meredith had yet to say anything; she was still trying to process what was going on. Why on earth would Hershel have a barn full of walkers?

"Glenn what's going on?"

"They think the walkers are just sick. What am I going to do?" Meredith was just as confused as he was. It was obvious they needed to tell someone but it _was _Hershel's farm. The others wouldn't act as calmly as they had. She could already imagine Shane's face turning red from anger. Andrea would want to put her input in as well.

"Ah don't know Glenn."

He dropped his head into his hands and groaned. "Why does everyone put their secrets on me? First Lori and now Maggie."

"What did Lori tell you?" She watched his face change quickly to shock. It was clear that he hadn't meant to say anything. Turning to face her he gave her a pleading look.

"Pretend you didn't hear that. I can't say anything, I promised."

Meredith laughed softly at the look on Glenn's face. The poor guy had the whole world pretty much thrust on him in a matter of one day. "Ah'll make a deal with you. Don't tell Hershel where Ah went and Ah'll pretend not t' know anything."

"Where are you going?"

"Just for a walk. Ah'll be back."

Her ankle was still tender but there was no way she was going to go back in the house. It had been days since she got to be outside; a little stroll through the field wouldn't hurt anyone. As long as she didn't put too much weight on her foot she'd be able to handle walking on it.

The cool wind brushed against her face softly. It was starting to get cooler; the seasons would be changing soon. Meredith wondered how cold it could get in Georgia. Her first winter had been mild but would it be the same this time?

She had to take slow deliberate steps when walking. Her foot only let her go so far. It took her nearly twenty minutes to make it toward the tree line. She didn't have any intentions of entering the forest but it was peaceful out that way.

"Ya shouldn't be walking on that." Turning her head Meredith looked behind her. Daryl was walking up to her with his cross bow slung across his back. Shrugging she continued to limp forward; there was no use trying to walk away from him, her ankle wouldn't allow it.

"Why do ya care anyhow?" Her imitation of his accent came out poorly due to her own. Daryl rolled his eyes; the annoyance was clear on his face. She'd been right when she made the assumption that he wasn't big on being teased.

"What ya gonna do if a walker comes at ya?"

Meredith shrugged again. Reaching down she patted her hip where the knife he gave her was still sitting. "Ah can take it down."

"Not with that foot ya ain't."

"Ah did afore." He was really starting to annoy her. He made it clear the other day he didn't want to have any friends. As far as she was concerned that included being concerned about someone's wellbeing. She tried walking faster to get away from him but her ankle gave a painful jolt.

Flinching she stumbled forward. Daryl's hand shot out closing around her arm. He pulled her up abruptly stopping her from falling. Turning to look up at him she found he was giving her a narrowed glare.

"Told ya yer not supposed to walk on it." His hand tightened around her arm. It was starting to become painful; she wouldn't be surprised if a bruise was there by morning. "Yer being reckless. Only gonna hurt yerself more."

Meredith tilted her head in confusion. The way he flopped between being nice and being rude was making her head spin. Two days ago he was telling her he didn't want any friends. Now he was acting concerned like he cared what happened to her.

"If Ah didn't know any better Ah'd say you were acting lik' a _friend_."

Daryl dropped his hand from hers quickly. Wiping any emotions from his face he stared back at her. Meredith shifted uncomfortably under his gaze; it was almost like every time she opened her mouth she would say something to piss him off. She wasn't going to censor herself just because he got a little defensive.

When he didn't say anything she started walking away from him. She'd barely taken one step when suddenly she was lifted into the air. Daryl hoisted her over his shoulder and headed back up toward the house. Meredith tried kicking her legs to force him to put her down but he only tightened his grip.

"Yer gonna hurt yer ankle if ya don't knock that off."

"Daryl put me down!"

She started banging her fists on his back when he ignored her demand. It didn't seem to affect him at all. No matter how hard she hit him. Daryl hissed loudly when her hand came in contact with his stitches. She froze when she realized what she'd done. Part of her worried that he was going to throw her on the ground or worse drop her on her ankle. Instead Daryl continued to carry her toward the house. He stomped loudly up the porch stairs.

Hershel had been talking to Maggie when they approached. He turned to give them a curious look as Daryl passed. The farmer followed him in as he tossed Meredith on to the couch in the living room. She was looking up at him afraid he was going to yell at her for hitting his stitches. Not bothering to acknowledge her he turned to look at Hershel.

"Ya need to keep a better eye on her. She's gonna git herself hurt if she ain't careful."

"Ah'm right 'ere. You can talk directly t' me." Daryl glanced at her with an agitated glare before walking back out of the house.

Meredith huffed annoyed that she'd been dragged back into the house like a child. Kneeling in front of her Hershel started to examine her ankle. "He's right. You can't strain your foot too hard. You won't be any help if you do that."

Sighing in defeat she tilted her head to look at the ceiling. Hershel and Daryl had teamed up against her; she wouldn't be getting out of the house again anytime soon. After he'd finished tightening her bandage Hershel left Meredith alone with Maggie. It was then she remembered the little secret that had been revealed this morning in the kitchen.

"Are you going t' tell me why your father has walkers in the barn?"

Maggie fidgeted with her hands nervously. "My step-mother and step-brother are in there. We're waiting for a cure."

"There is no cure. We were at th' CDC; walkers aren't who they used t' be Maggie. They're not the people we loved."

"But my dad…"

Leaning closer to her Meredith put her hand on Maggie's arm. She understood where the young girl was coming from but they had to think about the safety of the group. It wasn't safe to keep the walkers in the barn; if Carl went in there not knowing what was inside, Meredith couldn't stand to think of what would happen.

"Ah understand what you're saying. Ah really do but you have t' think about the group. The walkers are dead; they're no' coming back."

Maggie was silent for a long time. She sat with her hands folded in her lap staring into the fireplace. There was a troubled look on her face. It looked like she was conflicted on what to believe. After a few minutes she turned to look at Meredith.

"I get what you're saying. I really do but my dad is so sure of this. I have to go; I'm going on a run with Glenn."

"It's not right to expect 'im to keep this secret." Maggie didn't respond to her statement. She just nodded before walking out the front door.

Meredith had a bad feeling about the barn and what was inside. She knew it was only a matter of time before the others found out. If Glenn wasn't going to tell then she was going to have to. Regardless of what Hershel and his family believed, she had to think about the safety of the group. The people inside the barn weren't people anymore. It was going to get someone killed one day.


	13. Chapter 13

Here's the next update. I'm working on making the chapters longer. I have them pre-written through 18. After Chapter 18 the chapters will be longer. As always any and all feedback is welcome. Enjoy!

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"Keep your hands off me!" Glancing up from the book she was again failing to read Meredith looked toward the window. It sounded like an argument was brewing outside.

Struggling to her feet she grabbed the cane Hershel had been nice enough to lend her. It made her feel like an 80 year old woman but it at least allowed her to get more mobility. She still wasn't allowed outside.

Peering out the window she saw that Shane, Daryl and Rick were all in each other's faces. Carol was standing as well with an angry look on her face.

Meredith had a sinking feeling that someone had finally brought up the possibility Sophia wasn't coming back. She also had a feeling it was mentioned by Shane. The police officer pointed angrily at the barn. Glenn must have told them what Hershel and his family was hiding. She was busy watching the scene before her she didn't notice anyone next to her until Maggie spoke.

"Do you really think these 'walkers' aren't people anymore?"

"Aye. They're not sick, Maggie. Ah don't know what they are but they're not human anymore."

The group finally dispersed. Meredith watched everyone scatter to different parts of the farm. Her eyes landed on Daryl stomping toward the stables. She knew exactly what he was doing and it seemed Carol did too. The older woman was quickly following after him.

Walking outside she was careful not to put too much pressure on her foot. The last thing she needed was to fall over drawing attention to her-self. Hershel would be quick to drag her back inside if one of the others didn't do it first.

As she approached the stables she could hear Daryl's voice echoing through the air. It sounded a lot like he called someone a stupid bitch. A few seconds later he stormed out of the doorway; his eyes landed on her limping toward him.

"Ain't you gonna learn to do as yer told?" Meredith stopped moving. For a moment she was afraid he was going to throw her over his shoulder again.

"Ah heard yelling and Ah was concerned."

"No reason for ya to be concerned. Mind ya own business."

Daryl stepped toward her prompting her to step back slightly. When he saw the startled look on her face he brushed passed her without another word. Looking toward the stables Meredith saw Carol looking at her with a sad expression. She started walking closer to the mother.

"Carol are you alright? Ah heard yelling."

"I'm fine Meredith. Daryl's just angry because I won't let him go look for Sophia. He needs time to heal."

Meredith leaned against the stable wall. She'd walked a little too fast on her foot and now she was paying the price. Her ankle was throbbing; it felt like it had swelled again.

"Daryl means well. He really wants t' find Sophia. Even if it kills him."

"I think he's beating himself up over what happened to you." Turning to give Carol a curious look she tilted her head slightly. What did she mean by that? Why would Daryl blame himself for what happened to her foot? The look on her face caused Carol to smile softly. "He doesn't like to ask for help. You've noticed that. You almost broke your ankle to help him; imagine how that makes him feel."

Carol patted Meredith on the arm before walking back toward the campsite. She stayed leaning against the stable wall thinking about what she'd just been told. It was true that Daryl didn't like to ask for help; he most certainly didn't like accepting it. She'd almost broken her ankle to make sure he didn't die. It made a lot of sense now why he'd been acting so rudely toward her.

While she stood and thought about Daryl's behavior she was able to observe everyone on the farm. Something strange was happening between Shane and Lori. This wasn't the first time she'd caught them whispering to each other. She'd caught him giving weird looks toward Rick's wife; sometimes they were even inappropriate glances. Meredith had a feeling something had gone on between the two.

She also caught sight of Dale disappearing into the forest with the bag of guns. Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. What did Dale need a whole bag of guns for? The last thing she saw was not what she had been expecting. Daryl was walking toward her with a determined look on his face. At first she thought he was going to go look for Sophia regardless of what Carol wanted. She tried coming up with a plan on how to stop him but Daryl wasn't coming to saddle a horse.

"The hell you still doing out here? Git back to the house."

Meredith tried to fight the urge to roll her eyes. Sighing she crossed her arms and continued to lean where she was. "Why d' you care so damn badly what Ah'm doing?"

"Just do it before I drag yer ass back there agin."

She sized him up determining if arguing would do her any good. Daryl was standing in a very offensive stance; he was ready to carry her back if he had to. Huffing loudly Meredith pushed off the wall. It was getting real ridiculous that he was treating her like a child. If she wanted to take a walk she should be allowed to.

"Ah'm not a child Daryl. Ah can take care of mahself."

"What would ya have done if a walker snuck up on ya? Ya ain't going to be runnin around anytime soon."

Daryl walked slowly to make sure she was able to keep up. She had a feeling he was going to be walking with her until they made it back to the house. He wanted to make sure she wasn't going to sneak off again. As they were walking Meredith caught sight of Shane walking out of the forest with the bag of guns. He must have followed after Dale and took them back.

She hoped the police officer didn't do anything to Dale; Shane had been off ever since his run with Otis. He was hiding something and she had a feeling it had to do with what really happened when Patricia's husband died.

Daryl didn't seem happy to see that Shane was still on the farm. He stomped toward the group. Meredith hurried to follow him; she was curious as to what had suddenly gotten Daryl so riled up. As she approached she caught the end of his question. He was asking why they weren't out looking for Sophia.

"We got us a damn trail. Ain't any of you taking this seriously?" Shane had stopped listening to Daryl talk. His eyes were looking passed all of them. Turning Meredith gasped at the sight before them.

Rick was walking back on to the farm with Hershel and Jimmy. That wouldn't have been peculiar except for what was on the end of the large pole they were holding. A bloody walker was stumbling after them while Rick ushered it toward the barn.

Watching Rick helping Hershel finally caused Shane to snap. He grabbed one of his rifles; throwing an extra one at Daryl he led the group toward the barn. Meredith realized a second too late what they were doing. Limping as quickly as her ankle would allow she grasped Daryl's sleeve tightly.

"Daryl, we can't do this. Rick gave strict orders tha' we are to abide by Hershel's rules."

Yanking his arm from her grasp Daryl continued to follow after Shane and the others. She made it to the barn in enough time to see Rick arguing with his best friend. Shane pointed the gun at the walker attached to the pole.

"These things ain't people Hershel! They killed Otis, they're gonna kill all of us." Rick tried reaching out to grab the gun from Shane. Stepping back he gave them both a dark look. "Hey Hershel let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?"

Raising his gun Shane shot into the walker's chest. Meredith froze in her spot shocked at his abrupt behavior. She agreed it was dangerous to have walkers in the barn but she didn't think this was the right thing to do. Shane shot another bullet into the walker's chest.

"Shane this is enough!"

"You're right Rick it is!" Raising his gun he pointed and shot directly into its head. "Now if ya'll want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it!"

Meredith started limping closer to the group again. She watched Shane rush to the barn. Smashing the lock with the butt of his gun he pulled the door open to reveal a crowd of walkers. Anyone with a gun started shooting at them.

Beth and Maggie were huddled close to each other watching in horror as one by one the walkers went down. Hershel had yet to move. He was still staring at the dead walker at the end of the pole. The sound of the gunshots echoed in her head. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. If there was a chance Hershel was going to let them stay Shane had ruined that in a matter of minutes.

After what felt like an eternity the crowd of walkers dwindled until there were none left. Everyone looked toward each other with relief. They'd rid themselves of the problem and everyone was ok. Meredith started to relax. She was afraid something bad was going to happen but it seemed like everything was good.

A moan drew everyone's attention back toward the barn. It seemed there was another walker hiding out. Shane raised his gun preparing to take it out when it decided to walk through the doorway.

Meredith stopped breathing when her eyes landed on Sophia shuffling out of the barn. She heard Carol screaming for her daughter but she wasn't sure what happened after that. Her eyes wouldn't look away from the little girl; they couldn't. The cane fell from her hand. She didn't need it anyway; her body had gone completely numb.

Rick stepped passed Shane with his revolver raised. Looking down at the girl they'd spent days looking for he kept his face void of emotion. A single gunshot rang out and Sophia dropped to the ground.

She hadn't even realized she'd walked away from the barn until she was standing inside the RV. Glancing around Meredith tried to figure out what had brought her there. Her eyes landed on her bag; someone must have tossed it back in there when she was out with Daryl. Out looking for a little girl that had probably been dead the entire time.

Her stomach gave a jolt. She felt like she was going to vomit. Grabbing her bag she rummaged through it until she found what she was looking for. The pink dress she'd found hung limply in her hand. It was useless now; there wasn't anyone to wear it anymore.

Stumbling back out of the RV Meredith walked toward the forest with an empty look. Emptiness was building within her chest. Daryl had been right; it was useless to make friends. Why bother when everyone would probably be dead within six months anyway?

The cool wind blew across her face but she didn't feel it. She could barely feel the pain in her ankle anymore. The forest didn't even offer sanctuary; it had been among the trees that She'd lost Sophia. It was _her_ fault. Sophia got away because _she_ hadn't been able to protect her. _She'd_ gotten Carol's daughter killed. Bile started to rise in her throat.

Looking down at the dress in her hand Meredith clutched it tightly. She could feel the tears starting to slide down her face. Pulling at the neckline she ripped the dress along the seams. There was no point in keeping it anymore.

"What the hell ya doing out here Red?"

"Go away Daryl, Ah'm not in th' mood." Her voice sounded weak, tired. She was so tired of worrying about what was going to happen to them from day to day. Meredith pulled at the dress again. Another piece ripped off.

Reaching out Daryl grabbed the dress from her hands. He ignored her protests and threw it on the ground. Meredith tried going for it but he grabbed her arm roughly.

"Ya need to stop being dramatic. Yer going to hurt yerself."

Narrowing her eyes at him she pushed him away. Daryl was caught off guard by her sudden movement; he stumbled back a couple steps. "Screw you Daryl! You don' get the right t' be concerned about me. It's just like you said; no time in this world t' make friends."

She tried grabbing the dress again. Daryl wrapped his hands around her arms stopping her. Tears had started falling hard down her cheeks. Why couldn't he just get the hint that she didn't want to be around him?

"Meredith ya need to calm the fuck down. Ya ain't gonna blame yerself for what happened to her."

"You don't understand. Ah had her. She was safe and Ah let her get away. If Ah'd known how to track Ah might have found her sooner. She'd still be here. It _is _mah fault!"

Dropping to her knees she picked the dress up slowly. It seemed like it'd been years since she found it. Since they'd left the highway. Hugging the dress to her chest Meredith couldn't fight the sob that slipped from her mouth. She could hear Daryl swearing behind her before he stomped away. At least now she could be alone.


	14. Chapter 14

Here's the next update. I'm sorry it's been a while; I went out of town this weekend and then we got a huge snow storm while we were driving back. Added a whole eight hours to our drive. It was terrible. Theres about three more chapters that are still short and then we'll be getting to the longer chapters. As always any feedback is welcome! Enjoy!

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_-She was surrounded by darkness. The trees blocked her view of the night sky preventing her from being able to see. Clutching her knife tightly Meredith peered around trying to adjust to her surroundings. _

"_Hello? Anyone there?" Her question was met by silence. She stepped forward several steps. Maybe if she kept walking she would find her way back to the farm. _

_Meredith paused. She'd heard someone or something moaning. It was behind her; her hand started shaking. There was no way to tell how many walkers were coming up behind her. _

"_Meredith?" Her stomach dropped. She hadn't heard that voice in almost a week. Not since that day near the creek._

_Turning slowly she caught sight of a very pale Sophia. A chunk of skin was missing from the side of her neck, the blood seeping from the wound shown brightly against the darkness. Meredith dropped her arm. She felt bile starting to rise in her throat. _

"_Ah'm so sorry Sophia. Ah should have tried harder to protect you."_

_Smiling Sophia spun in a circle. It was then Meredith realized she was wearing the pink dress. When she turned to face her again the little girl's face had turned a sickly color. Her words were beginning to slur. _

"_Don't you like my new dress?"_

"_Tis beautiful." A clouded look glazed over Sophia's eyes. She hunched over slightly with her arms dangling. The dress was replaced with the outfit she'd worn the day they lost her. The day Meredith lost her. "Ah'm sorry Sophia."_

_Sophia stared back at her with empty eyes. Blood dripped from the wound in her neck. Meredith could feel the tears starting to fall. "Why couldn't you save me Meredith?"-_

Jerking forward Meredith glanced around frantically. Her breathing started to return to normal when she realized she had been dreaming again. For the last few days all she did was dream about Sophia. The little girl always came to her in the same fashion. She always asked why Meredith couldn't save her.

She'd been on house arrest since the incident with the barn. All of the walking had down a number on her ankle; Hershel had been firm with his conviction that she stay off her foot or he was going to cut it off. Meredith didn't actually think he would but she wasn't going to go against him again.

It didn't really matter to her if she stayed in bed for days anyway. She'd actually been given the clear to leave the house yesterday. Sophia's death sat hard on her conscious. Meredith couldn't bring herself to be around the others. She only permitted Maggie, Hershel, and Glenn to come visit her. They knew not to talk about what happened. Glenn would often bring updates from the group; apparently on their mission to retrieve Hershel from the local bar they'd been attacked by a group of men. In the scuffle Rick, Hershel, and Glenn had brought back a prisoner.

Meredith didn't really care to listen about the prisoner but Glenn was adamant about talking. He wouldn't sit in silence and let her sulk. She could see the worry in his eyes but she couldn't bring herself to talk or smile. She just wanted it all to disappear. Opting out was looking better each day.

The door to her room flew open causing her to jump. She hadn't been expecting Glenn or Maggie to come visit so early in the day. When Daryl stormed through the doorway she was a little more than surprised.

"Go away Daryl."

"No. I ain't going to let ya sulk in here. Come on." Meredith rolled her eyes. Sitting up she shot him an angry glare.

"Na, Ah won't. Just leave me alone."

Daryl's arm shot out; tightening his hand around her wrist he gave her an annoyed look. Before Meredith could respond she was pulled roughly out of bed. Her ankle was still stiff and it gave a sharp sting as she put her weight on it.

Ignoring her protests Daryl all but dragged her down the stairs. Maggie and Carol were sitting in the living room cutting potatoes for that day's meal. They both looked up startled to see the two coming down the stairs. Maggie set the potato in her hand down.

"What's going on?"

"Daryl's kidnapping me. Ah don't know wha' he's doing." Maggie started to say something to Daryl but he only brushed passed her.

Meredith cast a helpless glance behind her before she was pulled out of the house. She stumbled down the stairs; her ankle protested again. Hershel had wanted her to exercise it but she had a feeling he hadn't meant like this.

"Let go o' me." Daryl continued to ignore her protests. He didn't stop pulling her like a rag doll until they were well inside the forest. "What th' hell are we doing out here?"

"Ya want to learn to track. I'm gonna teach ya."

"Ah don't want to learn anymore. Ah don't care."

Crouching down Daryl pushed a few leaves aside. Not satisfied with what he found he moved further down the path and repeated his actions. He continued to do that until he found something he liked. Meredith watched him with her arms crossed. She didn't want to learn anymore; there was no point to it.

"What do ya see here?" Glancing down she watched him point to something on the ground. Rolling her eyes she shrugged.

"Ah don't see anything."

"Try harder." Shrugging Meredith turned away from him. She started walking back toward the farm. If he wasn't going to listen to her say she didn't want to learn then she was going to just walk away.

She'd only made it a few feet before Daryl grabbed her arm tightly. Pulling she tried yanking her arm out of his grasp. This only caused him to tighten his hand. Her arm was starting to hurt; spinning around she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Let go."

"Stop acting so damn childish. If yer gonna blame yerself for what happened to Sophia then yer gonna learn how to prevent it from happening agin."

"Why do you care so much?"

Squinting at her Daryl let go of her arm. Rubbing where his hand had been she returned the squinted look. He wasn't making sense again. Sometimes he cared and sometimes he didn't. He was giving her whiplash with how quickly his mood changed.

"I ain't gonna let ya stop caring. The group needs ya." Meredith opened her mouth to respond but paused. Looking into his eyes she thought about what Daryl had said. There was a hidden emotion on his face; she couldn't place what it was. It made her stomach flip.

Sighing she walked passed him to look back at the spot he'd been pointing to a few minutes previously. Crouching down she ran her fingers over the indentations much like he had before. It looked like a footprint but she couldn't place what type of footprint it was. What ever it was had been barefoot when it walked by.

"Tis a footprint."

"What type of footprint." Meredith started slightly. She hadn't realized Daryl had come up next to her; he'd moved so quietly.

Leaning closer to the ground she tried looking for more detail. The longer she looked the more she could see. Near the top were five deeper indents; they must have belonged to toes. That many toe prints and their placement meant they were human.

"It belongs to someone that was human."

"Was or is?"

Scrunching her eyebrows Meredith turned to look at him. "Ah don't know."

"Look harder." Sighing she ran her finger over the footprint. The ground had hardened around it. Whoever walked through had done so many days ago. Probably long before they even came to the farm.

"Ah don't know." Daryl leaned closer. Meredith was caught off guard by his sudden movement. His shoulder sat against hers as he pointed several inches away from the print.

"Ya see that there. That's another print; the other foot." When she didn't respond he shot an annoyed look in her direction. That was when she realized she'd been staring at the back of his head. Mumbling a quick apology she turned to look where he'd been pointing. "What is different about this print?"

The second print didn't leave as deep of an indent as the other. It gave off more of a dragging mark than anything else. The owner must have been dragging their foot when they walked.

"They were dragging their other foot. Could have been a walker or someone who was hurt."

Nodding in approval Daryl motioned for her to follow him. He led her further into the forest. She could smell the walker before she saw it. It was dead of course; there was a small knife wound in the back of its head. Nodding toward the swamp Daryl shoved his hands into his pocket.

"I found it yesterday stuck in the swamp." He turned to look at her. Meredith was still staring at the walker; a small smile appeared on her face. The corner of Daryl's mouth tugged upward slightly. It'd been a few days since she'd smiled. "What's got you so happy?"

"Why are you being nice t' me Daryl? You still haven't answered why you care."

Any semblance of a smile quickly disappeared. His thumb went instantly to his mouth, a tell tale sign he was uncomfortable about something. Meredith could see his mood start to change again. His eyes narrowed.

"Why do you gotta question everything I do?" Stomping away Daryl left her to stare into the swamp. She was confused by his behavior. He reminded her a lot of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; one minute he was nice and caring, the next he was ready to bite her head off. The one thing Meredith couldn't brush off was the feeling she got when he stood so close to her. When his shoulder brushed against hers.

She walked slowly back toward the farm. It'd been nice to get out of the house for a little while. As much as she'd tried to fight Daryl bringing her out there, it'd really brightened her spirits. It also helped that she had been able to identify a footprint correctly.

"Why are you all the way out here?" Meredith paused; she hadn't realized that someone had come up behind her. Turning slightly she caught sight of Shane leaning against one of the trees. She hadn't spoken much to him, not since the quarry. She'd been trying to avoid him at all costs. There was something off about him.

"Daryl was teaching me how t' track."

"A lot of good that's going to do us now." Narrowing her eyes Meredith continued to walk back toward the farm. She hadn't been in much of a rush before but now she wanted to get as far away from Shane as she could.

"We don' know what's going t' happen in the future. Might be useful to know how."

"Rick intends to stay on the farm. How do you feel about that?"

Turning back to face him she crossed her arms. "Ah think it's a good idea. Don't you?"

Shane shrugged. Pushing off of the tree he was leaning against he started walking toward her. Meredith had to fight the urge to step away from him as he approached. He hadn't given her a real reason not to trust him, other than the barn incident. Just because her gut was giving her a bad feeling didn't necessarily mean anything. It wouldn't be the first time she misinterpreted someone.

"I don't think Hershel understands what's going on. He's going to put us all in danger; I won't let anything happen to _my_ family."

A tight smile appeared on his face. It darkened the sinister look already there. Meredith didn't have to ask who he thought his family was. She'd been watching the way he and Lori acted around each other. It was clear Lori loved Rick, only wanted Rick but she had a sinking feeling Shane thought otherwise. This wasn't going to end well for anyone in the group.


	15. Chapter 15

I decided to go ahead and post another chapter tonight because I have a few already written. I combined chapter 15 and 16 to make it longer. Enjoy and as always any feedback is welcome!

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Carol was folding laundry when Meredith walked up to her. It'd been few days since the two women had talked to each other. Since Sophia had stumbled out of the barn. Guilt racked through her body for not going to the funeral. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. It gave too much finality to the little girl being dead.

"Ah'm sorry Ah didn't go to the funeral Carol." Smiling back at her Carol shrugged softly.

"It's alright. I didn't go either."

"Why?" She hadn't been expecting to hear Carol didn't go to her own daughter's funeral.

"We didn't bury Sophia. That wasn't my daughter."

"Carol…"

Turning to look at her Carol fixed her with a stern look. That was the first time she'd ever seen the emotion on the woman's face "I don't need a lecture from you too. Daryl already tried. I'm ok. Really."

Meredith looked back at her silently. She could already tell something was different about Carol. There was strength about her that hadn't been there before. She had a feeling Carol had come to terms with Sophia's death long before they actually found her. The world wasn't the only thing changing; she'd seen it in Shane. Now Carol was changing too.

"If you change your mind Ah'm here to listen."

Setting down the clothes she was folding Carol wrapped her arms around Meredith. "Thank you Meredith. I appreciate what you and Daryl tried to do. Keep an eye on him will you?"

"Everything alright? What's wrong wit' Daryl?"

"He took it just as hard as you did; Sophia. He's pushing away from the group. Lori was in an accident because she went looking for Rick the day it happened. Daryl refused to go. He's refusing to help anyone. Except you." Meredith felt her cheeks starting to heat up slightly. She hadn't realized Daryl was isolating himself from everyone except her. "He cares about you Meredith. Even if he hasn't realized it yet."

She thought about Carol's words as she walked into the forest. Daryl was spending a few hours everyday teaching her to track. After the first day she learned not to question his actions. It only seemed to piss him off.

Daryl was already leaning against the tree they usually met at when she made it there. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood today. Maybe it was because of her; she flushed at Carol's words again.

"Ok Fire Cracker we're huntin' today." Before she could respond he started off deeper into the trees. She didn't have a choice but to follow after. "Keep yer eyes on the ground. Yer in charge of tracking."

Meredith looked down at the ground determinedly. She really wanted to be able to succeed at finding something for them to eat. She wanted to show that she wasn't useless. That she could do something good.

Her eyes landed on the small prints of an animal. She couldn't quite tell what it was. Bending closer to the ground she ran her hand across the ground trying to clear the path slightly. "Ah think it might be a squirrel?"

Following her gaze Daryl looked at the print with an amused look. "I don't think the group want's to be eating skunk. Although we don't got many options. Keep looking."

"You don't have t' tease me." Daryl laughed softly at her comment. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. That was the first time she'd actually gotten a real laugh from him.

Looking at their surroundings she tried looking for any more signs. Her eyes landed on the prints of what had to be squirrel feet. They were smaller than the prints she'd seen before more pronounced than the other ones. "These are squirrel prints. Ah'm sure of it."

Daryl only nodded his confirmation. He stood with his bow out ready to shoot any animal or walker that came into the area. Keeping her head down she continued to follow the path. The further they got into the forest the fresher the tracks seem to get.

"We have t' be getting closer. Th' tracks are fresh here." Glancing away from the ground Meredith's eyes landed on the unmistakable outline of a squirrel munching on a nut near the base of a tree. Reaching out she smacked Daryl's leg roughly.

Watching where she was pointing he quickly shot his crossbow. The arrow lodged cleanly into the side of the squirrel's neck effectively trapping it against the tree.

"Good job Red. Snagged one on yer first try. Yer a natural."

Excitement bubbled through her. She'd done it. It may have only been a small animal but _she'd_ found it. Jumping to her feet she started bouncing around the forest. Daryl was failing to hide the amusement in his eyes.

"Ah did it! Ah really did it!" Forgetting who she was with Meredith wrapped her arms tightly around Daryl's neck. He stood still for a few seconds shocked by her sudden outburst. After he got over the initial surprise he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Thank you Daryl."

Reaching up she softly kissed the side of his cheek. She knew instantly it was the wrong thing to do. Daryl's body stiffened and his hands dropped from her waist.

Stepping away from him Meredith looked anywhere but at the man before her. Her cheeks were on fire. Why'd she have to go and do that?

"Ah'm sorry. Ah shouldn't have done tha'." Turning she ran back for the farm. Her ankle was still a little stiff but she didn't want to stand there and wait for him to start yelling.

Glenn was the first person she came across once she was back on the farm. He was carrying his bag that he normally took when he went on a run. His eyes widened at the startled look on her face.

"Meredith are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Running her hand through her hair she nodded. "Aye, Ah'm fine. Are you going on a run?"

"Ya, Lori needs a few things and I wanted to get some supplies we're running low on. Did you want to go?"

"Sure. Let me grab my bag."

They took one of the extra cars into town. Glenn told her about how they'd taken horses on the first run. He'd hated every minute of it but he got to spend it with Maggie.

"How're things going with you n' Maggie?"

He got this dreamy look on his face that reminded Meredith vaguely of someone who was high. "They're better now that she's not mad at me for the barn. What about you and Daryl?"

Glancing sideways at him she caught him giving her a mischievous look. There was something about the way he looked at her that gave her the sense he was hinting at something else.

"Ah don't know what you mean by tha'? Daryl n' Ah are just friends." Glenn made a humming sound but didn't say anything else.

Meredith shook her head and followed after him into the pharmacy. She walked through the aisles looking for anything that would be helpful for the group. It seemed like most everything had already been taken. Glenn did mention he'd already gone through the store with Maggie but he needed something for Lori that they could only find there.

She thought about asking what it was. Glenn said it was a secret that Lori had entrusted him with so she chose not to say anything. Her thoughts wandered back to Daryl. Glenn made it sound like he thought something was going on between the two. Did everyone else?

Her cheeks starting heating up when she thought about her abrupt behavior earlier that day. She'd been so excited about tracking the squirrel that she didn't realize what she was doing until it was too late. Daryl's reaction confirmed her suspicions that there was no way he'd be interested in whatever Glenn hinted at. That was probably why he acted so moody towards her. He probably didn't like how emotional she could be.

Pausing near the back door Meredith turned slightly. She thought she'd heard something coming from the corner. Turning around she started when she came face to face with another person. The man looked back at her just as startled as she was. He was quicker to recover; pointing his gun at her he shot her a malicious smirk.

"Drop your axe sweetheart." She glanced behind her to where Glenn was rummaging through one of the shelves. If she yelled out he might be able to help her. "Don't even think about it. Just do as I say."

Reaching down slowly Meredith set her axe on the floor. She was in the process of standing back up when the man pointed to her hip. "That too."

Once all of her weapons were on the floor the man started reaching for her. Turning quickly Meredith tried running toward the front of the building. His fingers grasped tightly around a chunk of her hair.

"Glenn!" She fell back against the man as he yanked her out of the back door. Thrashing around she tried grasping for something that would help her get away. Her fingers curled around the doorframe but he only pulled at her hair harder. Her hands slid from the frame slicing part of her palm on the edge of the latch. "Glenn! Help me!"

"Meredith!" Glenn was rushing toward them through the back door. Right as he flew outside a crowd of walkers stumbled into the alleyway; they'd been drawn in by her screaming. One of them reached out for the Asian man.

Stumbling he fell back inside the building. Using his knife Glenn started taking the walkers down as quickly as he could. Meredith tried breaking free from her captor's hands but he'd moved on to holding her around her waist. His other hand clamped over her mouth to prevent her from screaming out.

The further he pulled her into the forest the less she could see of Glenn. She wasn't even sure if he was able to break away from the walkers. Tears started streaming down her face. There was no way she could get away now. She didn't want to think about what was going to happen when they got to where he was taking her. Meredith did the only thing she could think of; she kept thrashing around hoping to make it easier to track.

* * *

**Daryl's P.O.V**

She'd kissed him. Well his cheek but she'd kissed him. Daryl didn't understand why she did it. Why Meredith was so emotional. He could always tell what type of mood she was in just by the look on her face. Especially when she was angry. Her cheeks would darken; when she was really pissed they would almost match her hair.

He liked it when her cheeks turned red like that. The first time he thought that it had thrown him for a loop. It was the day he'd fallen off the horse. She'd gotten mad at him for ignoring her; which he soon realized he often did on purpose. He caught himself doing little things just to get under her skin.

Daryl wasn't big on emotions and hugging. It wasn't something his family ever did. The first time she hugged him it really caught him off guard. He did the only thing he knew how to do and that was to push her away. He tried to stay away from her after that but he found he was drawn to her.

When he found her crying over a pink dress it physically hurt him to see her in pain. It hurt even more when she shoved him away. Daryl didn't understand why he felt that way. He didn't understand any of the feelings he was having. All he knew was that he liked being around Meredith. After Sophia's death he decided life was too short to push people away, especially now a days.

The one thing he didn't expect was for her to kiss him. She was excited about tracking her first animal. That was very clear to him and probably every other animal within hearing range. The way she'd carried on; he almost told her to knock it off before she attracted any walkers. Daryl couldn't bring himself to do it. It was good to see her laughing again. Something she hadn't done for a long time.

Meredith knew the minute her lips touched his cheek that he was uncomfortable. He'd stiffened and dropped his arms from around her. He wasn't even sure why he hugged her back. It just felt nice to have her in his arms.

Like always he could read her emotions on her face. She was just as shocked as he was; her face had even started turning red. If she'd bothered to look up at him she would have realized Daryl's face was turning a similar shade. Before he could say anything to her she ran off toward the farm. He didn't know what to do; didn't know how to react so he stayed out and hunted a little longer.

Daryl chewed on the inside of his thumb as he finally made it back to the farm. He'd added four more squirrels to the one Meredith had tracked. He thought about finding her to see if she wanted to help him skin them. It would be good for her to learn how to dress an animal for the future. He'd also get the chance to see if she was going to avoid him. A part of him really hoped she didn't. The other part hoped they could forget what happened in the woods all together.

When he didn't see Meredith milling around the camp with any of the others he thought she'd be inside. He hung the squirrels near his tent. After dropping his cross bow off Daryl started towards the house.

Glenn and Rick cut him off halfway there. He shot them both curious looks. Tucking his hands into his pockets he waited for one of them to say something. When they didn't he narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong.

"What ya want?"

Fidgeting with his hands Glenn looked up at Daryl. He seemed to lose his nerve and looked away quickly. Rick put his hands up, something he often did when he was trying to come off as nonthreatening.

"We seem to have an issue involving Meredith."

"Where is she?" Glenn took a deep breath. He was trying to get his courage up. Daryl had noticed over the last couple of days the Asian was getting better at standing up for himself.

"We went on a run into town. She got taken."

Narrowing his Daryl squinted at the two of them. What did they mean she got taken? He clenched his hands trying to keep calm. "What ya mean she got taken?"

"She was in the back of the store and I heard her yelling. When I got back there a man was dragging her through the back door. I tried to help her but walkers swarmed me."

His body went numb. Someone had taken Meredith; they had to hurry and find her. He wasn't going to let her end up like Sophia. Daryl looked passed Glenn toward Rick.

"I'm going to find her."

Rick nodded. "I know. I'm coming with you."

Daryl started to walk back toward his tent. He needed to get his crossbow and he needed to get away from Glenn. He couldn't believe he'd let her get taken. He was starting to see red.

Not picking up on the fact that Daryl was pissed Glenn tried catching up to him. "I want to help too."

He didn't realize what he'd done until Glenn was staring up at him from the ground. He was holding his hand over his eye. Looking down at his own hand Daryl saw the telling signs of a bruise forming on his knuckles. He shot a glare back at the man cowering away from him.

Not saying a word to either Glenn or Rick he stormed to his tent. The longer they took chatting the longer it was going to take him to find Meredith. A pit was forming in his stomach. He had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

"It's not Glenn's fault she was taken." Tapping his foot impatiently Daryl turned to look at Rick. They were driving back to where Glenn had lost Meredith.

"I know. I lost my temper." Of course it wasn't Glenn's fault. Daryl was scared. That was what the feeling in his stomach was. He was afraid of losing Meredith.

They pulled up to the pharmacy just before sunset. Near the back door sat the pile of walkers Glenn mentioned attacked him when he was trying to get to her. Daryl could already see the marks of a struggle near the edge of the woods.

"Can you track in the dark."

"It ain't gonna be easy but I can. She struggled a lot; means there will be signs to follow."

Meredith had to have given her kidnapper hell. There were marks almost everywhere showing they'd been through the forest. He found a few broken branches and even a mark where she'd dug her boot deep into the ground. Daryl also found a patch of blood. He hoped to whatever God was left that it didn't belong to her.

"Good girl. She fought 'im the whole way." Pointing in front of him he waited for Rick to come beside him. "That's where he started carryin' her. Probably couldn't keep a hold of her while she was on her feet. She left us a trail."

The two men stayed quiet the rest of the way through the woods. They didn't want to risk tipping the man off should he be out in the trees. After an hour of Daryl muttering to himself he caught sight of some lights in the distance.

"Wait for my signal. We'll go in together." Daryl stood up quickly. He'd heard the unmistakable sound of a woman's scream. Bolting toward the light he ignored Rick. "Daryl wait!"

He couldn't think straight. The only thing he knew was that he needed to know she was safe. Needed to know that no one had hurt her. The small cabin came into view quickly. He could see someone moving around inside.

Running forward Daryl paused long enough to kick the front door open. It smacked against the wall with a loud bang. He'd caught the man off guard. Spinning around he started to point something at Daryl but he didn't move quick enough. The man was unarmed in a matter of seconds and was pinned to the ground.

"Daryl she's over there." Looking toward where Rick was pointing he felt his breath hitch. Meredith was huddled near the corner of the cabin with her face covered.

Her normal long sleeve shirt was missing leaving her in only her tank top. The straps had been cut causing the shirt to slide down over her bra. Her hands were bound together by what looked like duck tape.

Once he was sure Rick had a hold of the man Daryl walked slowly toward Meredith. She hadn't looked up yet; he wasn't even sure she knew they were there. As he drew closer his eyes landed on the dark bruises already starting to form on her pale skin. Blood had dried on the palm of her hand where he could see a small cut. That had to have been where the blood he found came from.

Bending down Daryl made sure to stay a few feet away from her. He didn't want to spook her or cause her to lash out. "Meredith yer safe now."

At the sound of his voice Meredith's head shot up. There were red marks on her face as well as a deep cut along her cheek. Daryl could feel himself losing his temper again. Taking a deep breath he tried calming down. It wouldn't do anyone any good if he got angry. He'd only end up scaring her.

Holding his hands out he motioned toward hers. She looked around quickly; it looked like she was afraid her kidnapper was going to pop out at any moment. She didn't move until her eyes landed on Rick holding the man by his shirt near the front of the cabin. Slowly she placed her hands in Daryl's.

Taking out his hunting knife he was careful not to cut her arms. The tape pulled at her skin causing her to cringe. Her wrists were already raw from her binds. Daryl had to take another deep breath to keep his temper in check. When her hands were free Meredith lunged forward wrapping her arms around him.

This time he didn't hesitate to hug her back. Her shoulders were shaking; Daryl could feel the tears hitting the side of his neck. He was just glad to know they'd gotten there in time.

Pulling back slightly he pulled his vest off. He brought it around her shoulders before quickly wrapping his arms around her again.

"Ah knew you'd come." Daryl felt his stomach clench. She'd struggled around like that so he could find her. She knew he'd come for her.

"Come on. Let's get ya back."

Standing up he pulled Meredith to her feet. Instead of letting her walk on her own Daryl hooked one arm under her knees. This time she didn't fight him when he carried her out. She was probably too exhausted to stay on her feet for long anyway.

He didn't bother looking at her captor as he carried her outside. Daryl knew if he did he would lose his composure. He would probably kill the man if Rick would let him. Instead he let the sheriff take care of it. He knew Rick wouldn't kill him but at the moment he was just glad Meredith was alive.

Twenty minutes into walking back to the car Meredith had fallen asleep. Her arms were still wrapped tightly around him and her head was tilted into the crook of his neck. Daryl kept glancing down at her face; she was so peaceful when she was asleep. The day's trauma didn't seem to have filtered into her subconscious yet.

"She cares about you Daryl." Startled by Rick's sudden comment he glanced over to the sheriff with a stern look. Seeing the look in Daryl's eyes Rick raised his hands in surrender. "That's all I'm saying."

The ride back to the farm was over way too quickly for his liking. Daryl was comfortable with her in his arms; he knew when they got back he'd have to let her go.

Maggie and Beth were standing on the porch when they finally got back. When the two saw Daryl carrying Meredith they rushed to get their father. Hershel met them at the door holding his medical bag. He followed Daryl into the house trying to quickly analyze her for any injuries.

Daryl set Meredith softly on the bed. He instantly felt an emptiness when she left his arms. She must have sensed he'd put her down because as soon as his arms dropped to his side her eyes fluttered open. Hershel was on the other side of the bed wiping the blood from the cut on her face.

"The cut looks shallow. Should only need a bandage." Looking toward the older man Meredith nodded softly. She hadn't spoken since the cabin. After Hershel finished bandaging her face and her hand he left saying he would check on her in the morning.

Daryl was getting ready to leave as well when a small hand tightened around his wrist. He tried to keep from flinching away; he didn't like it when people grabbed at him like that. Looking down at her he found Meredith looking up at him with scared brown eyes.

"Will you stay with me?" Nodding Daryl prepared to sit down in the chair next to the bed. He was caught off guard when Meredith shifted over making room for him on the bed. Swallowing hard he looked between her and the empty spot. After a few seconds hesitation Daryl climbed in next to her.

Meredith curled up to his side resting her head on his shoulder. He tried to stay relaxed as possible for her sake. This wasn't something he normally did. Bringing his thumb up he chewed on the side nervously. It didn't seem she'd really noticed how uncomfortable he was. Meredith had already drifted back to sleep. He curled the arm she was lying on so he could rest his hand on her side. Daryl couldn't help but watch her as his own eyes drifted shut. Today had been a long one. He was so tired.


	16. Chapter 16

I decided to go ahead and give another chapter. There's one more short one before the longer chapters start up. As always enjoy and I accept any and all feedback! Also from the last chapter, what did every think of having a portion of the story in Daryl's POV? Like it? Dislike it?

* * *

Meredith's eyes fluttered open to Hershel leaning over her. A small smile sat on the doctor's face as he looked over her wounds. He held a small glass of water that she took eagerly.

"Your wound should heal with minimal scaring. The man that took you, he …" Hershel cleared his throat uncomfortably. Looking up from the blanket she fixed him with a curious look. Her cheeks darkened slightly when she realized what he was hinting at.

"Na, Daryl 'n Rick got there afore anything could happen."

Hershel nodded; a look of relief flashed across his face. "Let's all be grateful for that then. Beth brought your bag up. I'm sure you'd like to change."

Once she was alone Meredith climbed out of bed. Her muscles ached from the events from yesterday. She could already see a bruise circling her upper arm. Taking a deep breath she tried to push back the fear building up. She was safe now; the man couldn't hurt her anymore.

Reaching into her bag she pulled out one of the long sleeve shirts she'd found on the highway. The weather was quickly changing. It wasn't as hot during the day anymore and it was borderline freezing at night.

Meredith was still wearing Daryl's leather vest covering her half mutilated tank top. Looking down at her shirt she took a deep breath before pulling the vest and shirt off. She could still feel the man's hands on her arms, pulling on her, hitting her. After changing into a clean outfit she walked into the bathroom. She needed to clear her head of the images.

It'd been a few days since she'd seen her reflection in the mirror. The cut didn't look too bad on her cheek but it had bruised quite a bit. She could also see the telling signs of a bruise forming on her collarbone. Meredith ran her fingers through her hair trying to tame the tangles. She flinched when her fingers caught in a knot near the back of her head; pain radiated from the area.

She wasn't looking at her reflection anymore. In her mind she was back at the store. The man stared back at her with a dark smirk. Meredith turned to run but he wrapped his fingers tightly around her hair. Gasping she gripped the sink trying to steady her breathing.

She was safe. He wasn't there. He wasn't going to hurt her anymore. Touching her hair softly she looked at her reflection again. The terror in her eyes startled her; she'd never seen the look before. Not even with the dead roaming. It had never occurred to Meredith that even though the world had come to an end, men could still be so cruel.

Tightening her grip on her hair she looked around the bathroom quickly. She had to find something that would help solve her problem. She wasn't going to let it be so easy to grab her again. Her eyes landed on a pair of scissors sitting on the shelf near the toilet. Taking a deep breath Meredith ran the scissors through her hair; she fought the tears as she watched the red locks fall into the sink.

Looking back at her reflection she looked at the woman staring back at her. Her hair now sat just below her chin. She felt oddly at peace looking at her new hair; safer. Grabbing Daryl's vest she ventured down stairs.

Meredith walked into the kitchen to find Carol and Lori preparing food. They looked up when she walked in; she could see the surprised glances when they saw her hair. Neither said anything about it. She figured they didn't want to bring up something that might upset her. Carol did walk over to give her a small hug. The older woman always found a way to make her feel better.

"I'm glad you're ok Meredith. We all are."

She smiled softly at the two women. "Thank you Carol. Have you seen Daryl?"

"I think he's out by his tent."

After thanking Carol she ventured outside. She wanted to return Daryl's vest to him. It was rare that he didn't wear it and she figured he'd want it back soon. She also wanted to thank him (and Rick) for rescuing her. A shiver ran through her spine when she thought about what might have happened if they hadn't gotten there in time.

Daryl was skinning a few squirrels when she made it to his tent. He glanced sideways at her. His eyes slid to her head. Shifting uncomfortably Meredith ran her fingers through her hair.

"Ah wanted to bring your vest back." After a few seconds he reached out to take the piece of clothing she was offering. He went back to skinning the squirrel in his hand. Meredith stood there awkwardly; it seemed he'd gone back to ignoring her. "Ah… um… Ah wanted t' thank you."

Shifting slightly Daryl turned to look at her. Meredith was playing with the edge of her shirt. They were both uncomfortable with the conversation and she was silently wishing she hadn't said anything.

"Ya don't need to thank me."

Looking back at him she twitched again. Things were awkward. Whether it was because of what happened in the woods or the night before she wasn't sure. She didn't want things to be weird between them; it had seemed like Daryl was finally starting to open up to her. Now he was as closed off as ever.

"Ah'm not just talking about looking for me. Thank you for staying last night. Ah know 'twas uncomfortable for you." Daryl only shrugged at her statement. It seemed he wasn't going to be very much on conversation at the moment. "Would you be willing t' teach me how t' fight? Ah want t' be able to defend mahself."

Looking away from the squirrel he was skinning again Daryl gave her a curious look. She'd glanced sideways toward the camp. There were a few people she could have asked to teach her. Why had she decided to ask Daryl? Maybe he didn't want to be around her anymore after what happened in the forest. She shouldn't have kissed him. Even if it was only on the cheek it was clear he didn't like that she'd done that.

Daryl was quiet for so long she didn't think he was going to answer. He was still staring at her, which was only making her more uncomfortable. Running her hand through her hair again she watched his eyes follow the movement.

"We kin start after lunch."

* * *

Walking through the farm Meredith tried keeping an eye out for Glenn. She wanted to talk to him about what happened at the pharmacy. There was no doubt that he probably blamed himself; she wanted to make sure he understood she wasn't mad at him.

She hadn't been successful in finding him. It seemed most of the group members were gone. Biting on her lip Meredith glanced around; her eyes landed on Rick chopping wood near the barn. She'd wanted to talk to him anyway. Glenn would have to wait until later.

Rick nodded toward her when he noticed she was coming toward him. "How're you doing Meredith?"

"Ah'll be better in a few days. Ah wanted t' thank you. Without you n' Daryl Ah don't know what would have happened."

Picking up another log Rick glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He stayed silent as he smashed the axe into the wood. The two pieces flew off the stand with one landing near Meredith's feet.

"Daryl did most of the work. He was concerned about you." Her cheeks burned at his statement. It was weird to hear about Daryl caring like that.

"Have you seen Glenn? Ah wanted t' talk to him about what happened."

"I think he went with the others to practice shooting. Do you plan on going?"

Meredith hadn't realized they'd started up a firing range. It must have happened while she was held up in the house. Shaking her head she noticed how lightly her head moved now that her hair was shorter.

"Na, mah Da taught me t' shoot. Ah'm not a fan of guns but Ah know how t' use them."

"Sounds fair. Did you hear we have a prisoner?" She'd almost forgotten about the kid. Glenn had mentioned him a few times when she was mourning over Sophia. She didn't know a lot about their prisoner just knew his men had attacked Rick, Glenn, and Hershel about a week ago.

"Glenn mentioned 'im. What's going t' happen?"

Rick stopped chopping wood. Wiping the sweat from his face he turned to look at her. He looked so tired; she could only imagine how he was dealing with everything. Over the last few weeks Rick had taken the leadership from Shane. He was more equipped to lead the group, though Shane didn't seem to like the idea.

"I don't know yet. We're trying to learn more about his group. What do you think we should do?" Meredith started slightly. Rick was asking her opinion? It was strange to be asked what she thought. She shrugged unsure how to answer.

"Ah don't know. Things are changing now. Can we trust 'im?"

"That's what I'm trying to learn."

"Well good luck with that. Ah think Ah'll help Carol and Lori with some o' the cooking. Ah haven't been a lot o' help on that front." Meredith turned to walk away. She'd only taken a few steps when Rick's voice stopped her.

"I like the hair."

Her hand went to her head again. She was still getting used to the idea of not having her long red hair anymore. It would be better this way anyway. Walkers or people in general wouldn't be able to use her hair against her anymore. She'd be safer this way. She wasn't going to let them get too close again either.

Meredith was halfway to the house when she ran into Beth. She hadn't had many interactions with the young girl since coming on the farm. Hershel's daughter kept to herself a lot especially since her suicide attempt. She hadn't been in walking condition when it happened but Glenn had made sure to fill her in.

"How're you doing Beth?"

The blonde smiled softly at Meredith. It was one of the first smiles she'd seen on the girl in quite some time. "I'm doing better. What about you? I was on the porch when they brought you back."

Meredith shrugged. She was trying to come off better than she actually felt. "Ah could be better. Tis not fun to be kidnapped."

"Daryl was really worried about you. I could see it in his face." She flushed again. It seemed some members of the group were a little more observant than others.

"We're friends. He tries t' act like he doesn't need anyone but Ah know tis all for show. Tis important to keep an eye on each other, this group is all we have left."

Meredith watched Beth lean against the tree next to her. Even though she'd gotten to see her smile it was clear there was still a sadness about her. In a matter of days the little world Hershel and his family had created tumbled to the ground. They had to watch their loved ones die all over again. It just wasn't Carol that lost someone that day. She didn't want to see anyone else die.

"Ah'm glad Ah got t' meet you n' your family. It reminds me a lot o' mah family back home." Her comment seemed to make Beth happy. A large smile spread across the girl's face.

"It's nice to be able to talk to others that aren't my family or Jimmy."

"Jimmy's your boyfriend right?" Beth's cheeks turned pink. She fiddled with the end of her shirt.

"I don't know. I guess? He's fun to kiss but daddy would kill me if anything else happened. Y'know?"

Meredith laughed slightly. Patting Beth on the shoulder she took a few steps toward the house. "Aye mah Da was a lot like yours." She tried to keep the smile on her face when she referred to her father in the past tense. It was a lot harder to get the sentence out than she thought it would. "Ah'm going to help Lori 'n Carol with lunch. Did you want t' help?"


	17. Chapter 17

Here's the next update (: I'm going to try and have another one this weekend. The next few chapters are going to led back into the episodes. The next chapters will be around the part where they're deciding what to do with Randall. Thanks for the reviews and enjoy! As always any feedback is welcome.

* * *

Leaning against one of the large trees behind the house Meredith waited for Daryl. They'd been spending a few hours each day going over the basics of self-defense. Today Daryl was going to show her what to do if someone actually got their hands on her. He was running late; Rick had asked for his help with something. She wasn't sure what it was but it was going on an hour since they were supposed to meet.

Meredith stifled a yawn. She hadn't been sleeping well. Hershel was letting her sleep in the extra bed since she didn't have anywhere else to sleep. It was nice to be able to sleep in a bed but some nights she wished Rick and his family had it or even Carol. There were so many people in their group that needed it more. She spent most nights sitting by the window anyway. Her nightmares always kept her up.

Glancing toward the RV she caught sight of Glenn sneaking out of it. He'd been avoiding her ever since their run. If he saw her coming he would take off in the opposite direction; the Asian was fast and by the time she'd made it to where he'd gone, he'd disappeared.

She wasn't going to let him get away this time. Walking quickly she stayed as quiet as she could. "Glenn Ah want t' talk to you."

Glenn jumped slightly at the sound of her voice. He stayed facing away from her. Meredith didn't understand why he'd been acting that way. There was feeling guilty for something and there was avoiding someone completely.

"Why are you avoiding me Glenn?" He only shrugged at her question. Narrowing her eyes Meredith stepped closer to him. "Ah understand that you feel guilty but what happened 'twas not your fault."

"Yes it was Meredith. I shouldn't have let you get taken."

"You tried; tis all that matters. Ah saw you trying afore the walkers showed up. Ah was afraid you weren't going t' survive."

"I should have done a sweep. Made sure it was clear." Glenn turned around to give her a pleading look. It was then she noticed the yellowing bruise under his cheek. She knew he wouldn't have gotten that from the walkers. He never got near the man that had taken her either.

"Bloody Hell Glenn, what happened t' your face?"

Ignoring her question Glenn shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You getting taken was my fault."

Reaching up Meredith wrapped her arms tightly around Glenn. He stood tensely against her for several seconds. She could feel him shaking; what happened had to have really taken a toll on him. "Tis not your fault Glenn. Ah don't care wha' you or the others think. There was nothing you could have done. Please don't blame yourself."

At her words he finally seemed to relax. Wrapping his arms around Meredith he let all the emotions he'd been holding in out. She could hear the soft sobs coming from deep in his chest.

Once she was sure Glenn was ok she left him to finish his quest to find Maggie. The two had been getting closer the longer they stayed on the farm. It was nice to see them finding happiness; there wasn't much of it left in the world. Daryl was leaning against the same tree she had been earlier when Meredith made it to the back of the house.

He had his arms crossed and he looked grumpier than usual. Daryl had reverted back to his cold personality. Meredith wasn't sure what had happened but he wasn't as open to her as he had started to become. He dropped his arms when he caught sight of her. She noticed dark bruises and cuts forming on his knuckles.

"Where the hell you been? I ain't got all day."

Rolling her eyes she gave him an annoyed look. "Ah waited for you for an hour Daryl. What were you doing?"

"Don't matter." He shifted uncomfortably. Clenching his hands he tucked them so she couldn't see the cuts.

Meredith wasn't stupid. She knew what he'd been up to. Rick had mentioned before they were trying to get information out of their prisoner, Randall. It seemed they'd enlisted the red neck in their interrogations. Her heart clenched at the thought of what they were having Daryl do but she didn't bring it up. Another thought had occurred to her. Glenn wouldn't tell her what had happened to his face but there were only so many people that would have hit him.

She knew Shane wouldn't have been angry that she'd gone missing. There was only one person that would have gotten angry enough to hit someone because of that. Meredith had a feeling that not all the bruises on Daryl's hand were caused from Randall.

"Daryl did you hit Glenn?" Daryl started at her question. He hadn't been expecting her to change the subject so quickly.

Quickly regaining his composure Daryl tucked his hands into his pocket. Shrugging he glanced away from her. "He let you get taken."

"That doesn't give you the right t' hit someone." She couldn't believe that he'd actually done that. He'd hit Glenn for no reason. "'Twasn't his fault."

He shrugged again. It was clear he didn't care what she thought. He'd done what he did and he wasn't going to apologize for that. Meredith could feel her temper rising. It was behaviors like this that drove her crazy. One minute he was hunting through the woods searching for her and hitting people because of her then the next he was acting like her presence was a nuisance.

"You are th' most infuriating man Ah have ever met!"

Daryl's eyes shot to her. Narrowing them he crossed his arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ah can't deal with you right now!" Meredith spun around intent on storming away from him.

Realizing that he'd actually upset her Daryl quickly followed after her. Grabbing her arm he tried to stop her; he just wanted to apologize for upsetting her. His fingers tightened around a bruise under her long sleeve shirt. Meredith gasped as her mind went back to the cabin.

She remembered how the man had grabbed at her. Hit her when she wouldn't comply with his demands. Flinching away from him Meredith swung her fist around. She didn't realize what she'd done until Daryl was stumbling away from her holding his nose. A sharp pain radiated from her right hand.

"Ah'm so sorry Daryl. Ah didn't mean t' do that."

"Fucking hell Meredith!" Daryl had grabbed the rag that normally hung from his back pocket. Pushing it against his nose he glared at her. "What the fuck is wrong with ya!?"

"Ah'm sorry Daryl, Ah really am. We need t' get you t' Hershel."

Flinching away from her Daryl shook his head fiercely. "I'm fine. I don't need yer help."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. Now wasn't the time to be angry at him. Her temper was why they were in this predicament, that and his stubbornness. Ignoring his protests she grabbed his arm and started pulling him toward the house.

"Quit fighting me 'n come on. Hershel needs t' look at your nose." With a defeated grunt he let Meredith lead him into the house.

Some of the women were in the house working on making dinner. They gasped when they saw Daryl covering his bleeding nose. Carol rushed over with a fresh towel. He tried brushing her off but both Carol and Meredith glared at him.

"What happened?"

Daryl nodded his head toward Meredith. "Fire Cracker over here socked me in the face."

"'Twas an accident. Ah didn't mean t'."

Noticing how distressed she was Daryl relaxed slightly. He let Carol switch his dirty rag out for the clean towel. His blood instantly soaked through the material. Hershel came bustling in from the back room; a deep frown sat on his face as he took in the scene before him.

"Don't git all upset about it. I know ya didn't mean to. I shouldn't have grabbed yer arm."

* * *

Meredith rolled onto her side giving up on falling asleep anytime soon. Her ordeal with Daryl had resurfaced some of her fears from earlier that week. Every time she closed her eyes the man was there. He taunted her. She would try to escape but she was never able to get to the door. He always stopped her.

Her nightmares were often worse then what actually happened. In her dreams Daryl and Rick never made it in time. Her worst fears were acted out in her subconscious. The man would paw at her, tearing her apart physically and emotionally. Afterwards he would leave her behind to be found by Daryl. Except Daryl didn't want to save her anymore.

He would take one look at what the man had done and leave. She would try to chase after him but he always pushed her away. Told her it was her fault for what happened to her. Why couldn't she be stronger? Why couldn't she stop him? Why did she always rely on him to save her?

Sitting up Meredith ran a hand through her hair. Lying in bed thinking about her nightmares wasn't going to accomplish anything. She was safe now. She had to keep reminding herself that. No one was going to hurt her.

The house was silent as she maneuvered through the hallway. It had to have been well past midnight. She caught sight of T-Dog sitting on top of the RV. Not wanting to interact with him Meredith made sure to sidestep around the back of the RV. T-Dog kept his eyes towards the forest for several seconds before turning to look behind the house.

She took her opportunity and quickly walked toward the forest. Meredith didn't know why she was doing what she was but her body had stopped listening to her the moment she stepped out of bed. Daryl's tent sat quietly near the edge of the forest. Biting her lip Meredith started to change her mind. She was going to turn around and march back to the house. Force herself to go back to sleep; even if it meant she had the nightmares. Her voice found itself before she could talk her body into moving.

"Daryl? Are you awake?" She was met with silence and Meredith told herself that was a sign to go back to the house. That she was just going to embarrass herself by waking him.

She was about to step away from his tent when the sound of movement came from inside. Wringing her hands tightly she waited for the flap to open. Daryl peered out at her with squinted eyes. His blue eyes were glazed over slightly. His hair stuck up where he'd been lying on it.

Meredith could see the faint bruise forming under his eyes from when she'd hit him. Hershel had said she didn't break his nose but it had come close. Guilt bubbled in her chest at the thought of hitting him.

"What ya want?" When he was tired Daryl's southern drawl came out thicker. He wiped the sleep from his face as he waited for her to answer. For a moment she'd forgotten how to talk. Her throat was dry; her tongue didn't know what to do. Sighing in annoyance Daryl wiped at his face again. "If yer not gonna say anything I'm goin back to bed."

"Ah can't sleep."

"So ya came and woke me up?" Bringing her thumb up to her mouth Meredith bit on it softly. Daryl watched the movement suspiciously. This was a mistake. She shouldn't have come there. Her cheeks darkened slightly.

"Ah'm sorry for waking you. Ah'll just go back t' the house." Daryl watched her start to back away from him. Sighing softly he stepped back and motioned for her to get in his tent. When she didn't move he rolled his eyes.

"Ain't got all night. Come on."

Daryl's tent was a lot cleaner than she imagined it would be. There was a place for everything he owned; not that there was a lot. His sleeping bag was draped in one corner of the tent. There was a second one shoved underneath to create more cushion. Meredith assumed it had to have been Merle's. His cross brow sat near the top of his sleeping bag with an arrow already loaded. A small duffle was stuffed in the other corner.

By the time she'd stopped observing his tent Daryl was already lying down with his back turned. He'd shifted so there was enough room for her. Meredith crawled in next to him. There wasn't much room once she'd lied down. There was only about a centimeter between their bodies. She could feel him tense from how close she was.

Sighing softly Meredith closed her eyes. Her body had already relaxed from being close to Daryl. She felt safer with him next to her. He may have been uncomfortable with the situation but at that moment she didn't care. She just wanted to feel safe, even if it was for the night. As Meredith started to drift off she felt Daryl relax. He'd leaned in slightly drawn in from the warmth.


	18. Chapter 18

This is the start of my chapters that are longer. I'm going to keep working on keeping them at least 10 pages for you :) As always any and all feedback is welcome.

I'm also going to try and get better about responding to reviews. I love reading them and want to be able to respond as well!

**Guest:** I agree with you. Daryl is giving me whiplash as well! I don't know that he'll ever realize how much of an ass he's being. It's more fun that way :3

**redangel2463:** I found it really fun to write Daryl getting hit by Meredith. Kind of put him in his place? Lol

**KeikoNoritsu: **I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I also have problems with reading stories where their relationship escalates very quickly. I wanted it to be as realistic as possible. I'm also glad that I'm keeping Daryl in character. My biggest worry when writing is keeping the characters true to themselves in the show/book/etc.

* * *

Water dripped from the pieces of clothing as Meredith hung them on the line. She'd been trying to help more with the domestic side of camp. She just wanted to make sure she was on everyone's good side, which was something that was harder to do everyday. The group was splitting at the seams she could see it the longer they stayed on the farm.

Lori wanted the women to complete 'womanly' duties while Andrea wanted the women to learn to fight like the men. Meredith could see both sides of the argument; it was important that the work got done and it didn't seem the men were going to get to it anytime soon. She wasn't even sure half of them knew how to clean clothes. On the other hand it was important to know how to fight; they had to be able to defend themselves if they got separated.

The men weren't much help on squashing the fight. Shane and Rick were in their own fight. Being leader of the group was taking its toll on Rick. He was starting to buckle under the pressure. It didn't help that every time he made a decision someone seemed to second-guess what he had to say. Most often it was Shane but Meredith had caught Andrea and even Lori doing it.

She was a strong believer in following what Rick had to say because if he didn't make the decisions then who was going to? It was a belief that she shared with Daryl, which made life a lot easier. She didn't want to be at odds with him anymore than she did the others.

Shane was unraveling. The longer he was around Lori and Rick the more Meredith could see him losing it. He was super protective of his best friends wife and son. Things were going to end badly with the police officer. She had a bad feeling about what Shane would be willing to do. Dale had confided in her his suspicions about what had really happened with Otis. It made a lot of sense that Shane would have killed the man in order to protect himself. It made her uneasy; most days she made sure to steer clear of him.

"Do you need any help?" Peering over her shoulder Meredith found Carol standing behind her. Wiping her wet hands on her jeans she smiled at the older woman.

"Tha' would be very nice thank you Carol" Reaching down she grabbed someone's jeans; they looked to be Carl's, and passed them to Carol. She hung one of her own shirts before turning to look at the shorthaired woman next to her. "Do you think we're safe her'?"

"Rick seems to think so. We could fortify this place. Don't you think we are?"

Meredith shrugged. She wasn't exactly sure but she had a bad feeling. "Ah don't know. Th' group is broken. Ah'm not sure what's going t' happen."

"What do you mean the groups broken?" Carol had stopped hanging clothes and turned to give her a curious look.

"Haven't you noticed th' tension? Lori 'n Andrea won't stop fighting about work. Shane 'n Rick are fighting over what's best for th' group. What's th' saying? Too many cooks…"

Carol seemed to be deep in thought. She didn't speak the rest of the time they hung laundry. Meredith had gone back to hanging clothes. She was lost in her own thoughts. What would she do if the group finally broke? Would she be willing to venture out on her own again? It'd been nice being with the group; She'd made new friends. Could she leave Glenn, Carol or even Maggie without knowing if they would ever be ok? Could she leave Daryl? Would he leave with her?

She'd been getting closer with Daryl. Her bag had been moved permanently into his tent as it had become normal for her to stay with him. After the second night she'd waited until everyone was sleeping to sneak in to his tent, he'd told her to just move in. He didn't want her waking him at all hours of the night when her nightmares became too much. They didn't talk about what was going on; it was just a mutual agreement not to bring it up. The rest of the group seemed to follow along with that as well.

When Meredith finished with the laundry she wandered over to the RV. Dale was on watch as he usually was during the day. She was about to greet him when Daryl caught her attention. He was trudging toward her with his cross bow draped over his shoulder.

"I'm going on a run. Ya wanna come?"

"Where are we going?"

He'd started walking away without answering her question. That was something she found Daryl was really bad about doing. He would just make a statement or ask a question before walking away.

Jogging slightly to keep up with him Meredith followed him toward his motorcycle. "You didn't answer mah question."

"I need more arrows thought ya'd want to get off the farm."

* * *

Holding her axe tightly she followed Daryl toward the sporting goods store. She'd found her weapon sitting against his motorcycle when they left the farm. Apparently he had decided she was going with him before he'd even asked. Which was fine with her, he was right; she did want to get off the farm.

They'd had to travel to the next town to get to the store; ever since their run in with Randall's group everyone had been avoiding the closer town.

"Wait here." Rolling her eyes she let him enter the store first. She knew he meant well about wanting to make sure the building was clear. Meredith was an adult and she could handle any walkers that came at them. She was confident that she'd be able to take care of any live ones if she had to. What happened at the pharmacy wasn't going to happen again so easily.

For the most part the store seemed to be relatively untouched. A lot of rifles were gone but the arrows were left behind. Knowing how to shoot an arrow wasn't common knowledge and so most people left them behind.

Meredith was looking at a long rifle holster that looked like it would fit her axe. It was slightly too big but the blade would stop it from falling through. With the holster she wouldn't have to carry a bag every time she went out. She was starting to pull it off the shelf when a small handgun was thrust in front of her. Blinking rapidly she turned to give Daryl a confused look.

"Ya need somethin other than just yer axe to defend yerself. Rick said ya knew how to shoot."

"Aye but Ah'm not a fan o' guns."

Daryl shrugged. He motioned for her to take the gun. "Don't matter anymore. Ya need to have it."

She opened her mouth to argue but stopped. Deep down she knew he was right. It was only a matter of time before she'd have to quit fighting the inevitable. If she wanted to survive in this world she had to have more than just an axe and a hunting knife to protect her.

The gun felt heavy in her hand. It'd been a long time since she'd held one. Her father had wanted her to know how to handle them. Just in case she ever needed to defend herself. The end of the world seemed to be as good a time as any. Pulling the clip Meredith saw that Daryl had already loaded it for her. She clipped the holster against the back of her left hip, right behind her hunting knife.

Daryl had gone back to digging around for arrows while she continued to look through the rifle holsters. A slim black one caught her eye. It was a little smaller than the original one she'd been looking at and would fit her axe better. Pulling it down she slid it over her shoulder.

"It's getting cold. Yer gonna need a jacket." Meredith turned to see Daryl holding a jacket toward her. It was a mixture of brown, green and gray all over. It was a stereotypical hunting jacket.

Scrunching her nose in disgust she shook her head. "Tha' is the ugliest jacket Ah have ever seen."

Daryl rolled his eyes. A small smile sat on his face. "There ain't a lot of options here. It'll keep ya warm and it don't draw a lot of attention. Just take it."

"Well what do we have here?"

**Daryl's POV**

The smile fell from his face. He could see the terror in Meredith's eyes as she peered over his shoulder. Spinning around he came face to face with the owner of the voice. Daryl pulled his hunting knife out; he'd been stupid enough to leave his crossbow sitting near the arrows.

"I'd put that down if I were you boy." The man was pointing his rifle directly toward Daryl's chest. It would only take one shot and he'd be dead.

Meredith was clutching the back of his vest tightly. He could feel her shaking behind him. No matter how much he taught her to fight or how tough she acted it was clear she still wasn't ready to face men like this.

Daryl was weighing his options. He could lunge at the man trying to avoid the end of the rifle. Chances were he'd be shot and there wouldn't be anyone to protect Meredith. His grip tightened on his knife; he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. Not after last time. He'd made up his mind. Right when he was about to attack the stranger another voice rang out from the front of the store. How had he not heard them come in?

"What'd you find Ronnie?"

"Come see for yourself Danny." A second man appeared from behind the first. He seemed to be a few years younger but he had the same greasy look as the first one. Their dirty blonde hair and pale blue eyes gave Daryl the impression they were probably brothers. It looked like they hadn't eaten in quite a while and layers of dirt covered their skin and clothes. "I'm thinking we get rid of him and take her for ourselves."

Meredith stiffened behind him. He could feel the fear radiating from her. Keeping his knife pointed toward the brothers Daryl reached his free hand around to grab hers. He wasn't going to let them take her.

"She ain't yers to take." His comment only made the brothers laugh loudly. The older one took a step closer.

"And what you gonna do to stop us huh? Stick me with your little knife?"

A gunshot rang out. It was right next to his head. Flinching forward Daryl grabbed his right ear. It felt like his eardrum may have been blown out. He was vaguely aware of a body falling in front of him. He could hear shouting but he couldn't tell what was happening.

"_You stupid bitch!"_

"_Get th' fuck out o' here or you're next!"_

Daryl dropped to his knees. The world was spinning around him. He could feel someone grabbing at his shoulders. He tried pushing them away; he had to make sure Meredith was ok. Searching around his blue eyes landed on the limp body of the older brother; a bullet hole sat dead center on his forehead. He tried looking for the younger brother but Meredith's face appeared in his vision.

"Shite, Daryl are you ok? Ah didn't mean t' shoot so close t' your ear."

"What the fuck happened?"

The gravity of what she'd done seemed to finally hit her. Meredith's shoulders sagged as she leaned away from him. Dread filled her eyes. She turned to stare down at the man lying dead before them.

"Ah... Ah had t' do something. It was us or them." Reaching forward Daryl pulled her face toward him. Tears were threatening to fall from her brown eyes.

"Yer going to be fine."

"Wha' did Ah do Daryl? Mother o' God, Ah killed him."

She stood quickly. Her face had paled. Standing up Daryl watched her start to pace back and forth. They didn't have time for her to freak out. The gunshot would have attracted walkers along with anyone that may have been in the area. Grabbing her arm he gave Meredith a stern look.

"We ain't got time to be havin a melt down. Ya can do that when we get back."

Nodding Meredith let Daryl lead her out of the store. After securing his crossbow on the back of his bike he climbed on. A small group of walkers had started shuffling toward them. Motioning for her to hurry he started the bike as she climbed on behind him. Her arms wrapped tightly around his waist causing his stomach to flip. In any other situation the feeling would have freaked him out but at that moment the only thing he cared about was getting them back to the farm.

**Meredith's POV**

As soon as they got back to the farm Meredith climbed to the top of the RV. She'd stopped trying to process what had happened back at the store halfway home. There was no need to question what she'd done or why. She'd killed a man because he was threatening to kill Daryl and do worse to her. It was her or them; that's what she kept telling herself.

T-Dog was on watch when she got there. He didn't say anything to her; just let her sit on the RV quietly. She was holding her gun in her hand. Every few minutes she would flip it over. It didn't feel so heavy anymore.

"Daryl told me what happened." Not bothering to answer Meredith waited for Rick to say something else. He sat down next to her and looked out toward the barn. "We didn't let Randall go."

"Wha' happened?"

"He's too much of a liability. What you did was right Meredith. Those men would have killed Daryl and done God knows what to you."

Setting her gun down between them she continued to watch Shane pace outside the barn. Daryl had gone in a few minutes previous. Meredith had a sinking feeling about what he was doing in there. She knew he was going to have a set of fresh cuts on his hands later.

"Ah'm not ashamed o' what Ah did Rick. Ah know Ah should be but Ah had t' protect us."

"The first time I had to kill someone it took a toll on me. I don't regret it because I had to protect my family. It's still not easy taking another persons life."

Meredith finally turned to look at Rick. He was staring at Shane with a mixed expression. It was then she knew he would do anything to protect his family just as his best friend had said. He wasn't going to let anything happen to Lori, Carl, or the baby even if it meant eliminating Shane.

"Thank you for checking on me Rick. Ah'll be fine." Holstering her gun she stood. Daryl had come out of the barn and she wanted to speak with him. Pausing she patted Rick on the shoulder. "Ah know you want t' get information out o' Randall but tis not right t' do tha' t' Daryl."

Sitting on the sleeping bag she shared with Daryl Meredith waited for him to come back. He'd gone to speak with Rick about what Randall had told him. She wanted to talk to him about everything that had happened that day, the sporting goods store and Randall.

When Daryl finally climbed into the tent he looked grouchier than usual. His expression softened when he saw her sitting there with the first aid kit. Kicking his shoes off he threw himself on their make shift bed. He groaned when his body hit the hard ground.

Meredith started pulling out what she'd need to clean his cuts. They were a lot worse than they'd been the first time he'd come out of the barn with them. To an extent she understood why Rick and Daryl were doing what they were but it was taking it's toll on the red neck. She had a feeling he didn't like being the police officers enforcer. That's not the type of person Daryl was.

"Have you tried talking t' Randall instead o' just hitting 'im?"

Daryl grunted. "He ain't much of a talker."

Meredith rubbed antiseptic along his knuckles. He hissed and tried pulling his hand away from her. She only tightened her grip before giving him a warning look. "Well have you tried talking t' 'im?"

Shrugging Daryl sat up. He watched her continue to clean the blood and dead skin off his hand. "Rick didn't send me in there to talk."

"Just because Rick wants you t' do something doesn't mean you have t'. Give me your other hand."

Letting her take his left hand he brought the right to his mouth. Biting on the side of his thumb Daryl scowled at the entrance of the tent. It was clear he didn't like what she was saying to him.

"I don't need ya lecturing me. Carol's already started that."

She smiled slightly at the mention of Carol badgering him. It seemed like the two women always had the same mind set when it came to Daryl's actions. Wiping the rest of the blood from his hand she tossed the dirty wipes into a small bag.

"Tha's why Ah like Carol. She's a smart woman. You should listen t' her more often." The smile left Meredith's face as she thought about what else she had to say. While she didn't regret what had happened she was afraid of Daryl's reaction. "Ah wanted t' talk about the men from the store."

He turned toward her at the worried sound in her voice. She'd started fidgeting with her hair, something that wasn't as easy anymore since she'd cut most of it off.

"Ain't nothing to talk about. Ya did what ya had to."

Meredith looked anywhere but at Daryl. Biting on her bottom lip she shifted uncomfortably. "Ah just don' want you t' think Ah'm a monster for killing 'im."

His laughter brought her eyes toward his. Crossing her arms she glared at him. What did he think was so funny? Shaking his head Daryl laid back on the sleeping bag again. He kept his eyes looking at her; his were filled with amusement while hers shown annoyance.

"I ain't gonna think yer a monster fer protecting yerself Meredith. Just try not to blow my ear drums out next time."

Rolling her eyes she laid down next to him. They'd gotten pretty comfortable with lying next to each other. A few times Meredith had even woken up with Daryl's arm around her. Those mornings she would fight the blush creeping up her neck as she wiggled out of his grasp.

"What'd you do afore the outbreak Daryl?"

"Why does it matter?" Daryl was really good about avoiding questions about his past. Every so often Meredith would ask a question about his life before the outbreak or about his brother. He would either not answer or get pissed at her for prying. All she wanted was to get to know him better; she really didn't know a whole lot about him.

"Ah just want t' get t' know you. Ah don't know anything about you."

"There ain't nothing to know."

"Just forget 't." Flipping onto her side she faced away from Daryl. While he was getting more comfortable around her it seemed he still wasn't willing to open up to her. Meredith was slightly hurt that he wouldn't tell her about his past. What was so bad about it that he didn't want to share?

Daryl grumbled something about taking watch. He grabbed his crossbow and climbed out of the tent. She glared at the flap as it zipped closed. This was a _perfect_ ending for a shitty day. She'd killed a man; now her and Daryl were at odds. Again. She just couldn't catch a break.

_-The wind rattled the walls. She hadn't heard a storm this bad since she was home in Scotland. Meredith peered around the room trying to gather her surroundings. She wasn't familiar with the room she was in. It was the size of a small classroom but it was void of any furniture or lighting. The only form of light was the moon shining in through the tiny window near the back wall. _

_Stepping closer she tried looking for any form of exit. There was something off about the room. She didn't want to be there any longer than she had to. _

_Someone or thing groaned to her left. Meredith paused waiting for whatever was hiding in the shadows to come out. It didn't sound like a walker but she couldn't be too sure. The groaning continued to get louder until a figure appeared in the moonlight. _

_The dull eyes of the man from the sporting goods store stared back at her. A small hole shone brightly against his forehead. Stepping back she put a wider distance between her and him. _

"_You killed me."_

_Shaking her head Meredith gave him a hard look. "Ah had t' protect us. You were going t' hurt us."_

"_I was just having a little fun. My brother and me were alone. Hungry, tired. I was all he had."_

_Her stomach dropped. She hadn't thought of it like that. The man had been in charge of taking care of someone. Just like Merle had done with Daryl. Things had worked out for him though there was no saying this mans brother couldn't survive. Maybe this would be what he needed to get out from under the shadow that was his brother._

"_Ah had t' protect us."_

"_What good is saving humanity when all you gonna do is kill it off?"_

_The man wandered off. Meredith watched him disappear into the shadows. Her stomach flipped when the sounds of more shuffling feet reached her ears. A smaller figure appeared into the moonlight. The pink dress she'd found ruffled along Sophia's knees. It'd been a long time since she'd dreamt about the little girl._

"_Isn't my dress pretty Meredith?"_

_Meredith smiled softly at her. "Tis beautiful Sophia."_

"_How come you could find this dress but you couldn't find me?" The smile fell from her face. Sophia looked up at her with an accusatory glare. It matched the look the man had just been giving her. "Didn't you like me? Was I a bother?"_

"_O' course not sweetheart. Ah tried so hard t' find you. We all did."_

"_Then why couldn't you find me?"_

_Sophia skipped off toward the same direction the man had gone. She watched her go with a heavy heart. Why couldn't she find her? Why hadn't she tried harder to look for Sophia? The little girl would be reunited with her mother right now if Meredith had tried harder. It was her fault Sophia was dead. She should have taken her back to the road instead of waiting for Rick. _

"_The world really has gone to shit hasn't it Meredith?" Turning back toward the moonlight she felt her heart drop. The blonde before her was the last person she wanted to see. She hadn't dreamt of her since the beginning of the outbreak._

"_Lila…Ah'm so sorry. Ah had t' do it…"_

_Her roommate rolled her green eyes. She wore the same look the previous two had worn. They blamed her for what happened to them. Meredith took a step back; she didn't want to be there anymore. _

"_You've been saying that a lot Meredith. 'I had to do it. I had to protect us.' Why can't you accept it for what it is? You're a murderer."_

"_Ah'm not."_

"_Yes you are. You're a cold blooded killer." Lila stepped toward her. The man and Sophia had joined her. They were all giving her a dark look. Blood started seeping from the bullet wound in the man's head. He stumbled forward. His body hit the ground with a thud. A puddle of blood formed around his head._

_Lila's body stiffened. A large bite mark appeared in her arm. Her eyes started clouding over as her skin turned a sickly green. Stumbling toward Meredith she clawed at the red head before her. _

_A large gash appeared on her skull. It got deeper the closer she got to Meredith. Gurgling Lila fell to the ground. Her head was split open where it'd been hit with a lamp almost six months ago._

"_It's your fault this happened to us." Meredith stared at Sophia. Her composure had finally broken. Tears were streaming from her eyes. She watched the little girl start to change just like Lila had. – _

Sitting up Meredith searched the tent frantically. It was just a dream. That's what she had to keep telling herself. Wiping at her face she realized she'd been crying in her sleep.

"It was just a dream Red." Daryl sat up. He was wiping the sleep from his face. When he saw the wet streaks on her face he instantly became alert. "Nothing's gonna hurt ya."

"Tis all mah fault Daryl. Lila, Sophia, that man. Tis my fault."

Hushing her he wrapped his arms around Meredith tightly. She buried her face in the crook of his neck. Daryl had only comforted her this way when they rescued her from the man in the woods. He wasn't big on hugs.

"Don't start that up again. Ain't gonna do ya any good to blame yerself." Pulling her with him Daryl laid on his back. He kept his arms wrapped around her.

Resting her head against his shoulder Meredith laid her arm on his chest. She gripped his shirt tightly. The images from her dream were still flashing before her eyes. Her roommate stumbling toward her, the man dying of his gunshot wound, Sophia turning into a walker. A small sob slipped from her lips prompting Daryl to pull her closer.

"Do ya still wanna know what a chupacabra is?"

Tilting her head to give him a curious look she found Daryl staring up at the ceiling. He was chewing on the inside of his thumb. It wasn't about his past but it was a start. He was trying to distract her; give her something other than the dream to think about. Shifting she rested her head against his shoulder again and nodded.

"It's got scaly green like skin. With sharp spikes running down it's back. They drain the blood from farm animals like a vampire."

"Tis mythical like th' Loch Ness Monster then?"

Daryl huffed. "It ain't mythical. I seen it myself."

Meredith tried stifling her laughter. She didn't want to hurt his pride by telling him she didn't think a chupacabra was real. "Mah brother claimed he saw th' Loch Ness Monster when he was traveling wit' friends."

Daryl could hear the amusement in her voice. She didn't believe him but at least she wasn't crying any more. Resting his hand on her waist he absentmindedly started rubbing small circles with his thumb. Meredith could feel herself starting to drift back to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

I'm going to try and get another update in a few days. I'm on break from work for the week after today so I'll have more time. As always any and all feedback is welcome. I also want to get everyone's opinion about something I might include in my story. If any of you have played the Walking Dead video game with Clementine, you will know what Im talking about. I'm thinking about writing her into this story. I know she's met Glenn from the video game but other than that she has no meetings with the gang but I want to write her in. I think she'd be a good addition to the story. Let me know what you think!

**Redangel2463: **I love the Daryl/Meredith moments (: They're always my favorite to write.

**writingNOOB: **I try my best to make her accent as realistic as I can. Scottish accents are one of my favorites.

* * *

Meredith walked through the forest quietly. She was checking through the traps Daryl set a few days ago. She wanted to get away from everyone and clear her head. The camp had become tenser as each day went by. She wasn't sure what was going to happen. They had a prisoner that they needed to deal with and winter was coming. Hershel had finally conceded to let them stay on the farm but they would need to move inside sooner rather than later.

She'd heard the doctor speaking with Rick earlier that morning. He was talking about fortifying the house so they could all stay inside for the winter. The idea of living in a house again sounded exciting and strange at the same time. She'd grown used to living in a tent.

At the same time living in one house with the entire group sounded like a nightmare. On a good day they all could barely stand each other; locking everyone up inside the house was going to end in more than one fight.

Crouching down Meredith frowned at the fourth empty trap. They didn't seem to be having any luck catching anything. It was getting colder. Any of the animals that were still around would be settling down for the winter themselves. She didn't want to head back with so little; the two squirrels she'd found strung up wouldn't be enough to feed everyone in the group.

A twig snapped behind her. Meredith started to turn ready to attack whatever was behind her. Maybe she'd be lucky and an unsuspecting animal had stumbled upon her. She didn't really have anything that would help her hunt but it was worth a try.

What she wasn't expecting when she turned around was to see Shane leaning against the tree. Ever since Dale shared his concerns about Otis she'd made sure to stay as far away from him as she could. The police officer stared at her with a smug look; he had his arms crossed nonchalantly over his chest.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people Shane. Ah could have killed you."

Shane snorted. Shrugging he continued to lean against the wall. "You're not very observant Meredith. If I were a walker I would have killed you a while ago."

"Were you following me?" Meredith cast him a weary look. His presence alone was giving her a bad feeling. The look he wore didn't make her feel any better. Why had he followed her out here?

"It's not safe to be out here alone."

Rolling her eyes she started to side step her way back toward the farm. She didn't want to turn her back on him. She didn't want to give him an advantage to catch her off guard. "Ah can handle mahself."

Shane followed her movements with narrowed eyes. He could tell she didn't trust him. His face started to change from smug to dark. Pushing off the tree he started walking toward her. Meredith clutched her knife tightly and continued to step away from him.

"I don't get it Meredith."

"Don' get what?"

He started rubbing his fingers against his palms. She watched his hands suspiciously. Being taller than her Shane had closed the distance between them quickly.

"Why do you hang around the hick all the time? What's so special about Daryl Dixon?"

Her frown deepened. "Daryl 'n Ah are friends. Who Ah hang around with tis none o' your concern."

It didn't look like Shane liked what she had to say. A line appeared across his forehead. Rubbing his hand across the top of his head he continued to glower at her. Meredith's heart was racing. Coming into the forest alone had been a terrible idea; she didn't trust Shane but she hadn't thought he'd actually try anything to hurt her.

"Don't kid yourself _Red_." She flinched at the way he used Daryl's nickname for her. "We all see how you two are around each other. I want to know what makes that red neck so damn special."

"Ah don' understand where this is coming from Shane." Meredith glanced behind her to make sure nothing was obstructing her path. She could see the outline of the barn coming into view.

"You're a pretty girl _Red_. Why you fawning over _him_. Daryl's…. well he's just Daryl." Cringing when he used her nickname again she turned to give him a dirty look. Shane had been falling off the deep end for weeks now. It seemed he'd finally lost it.

"Ah'm not 'fawning' over Daryl. Even if Ah was, tis nothing you need t' worry about."

Shane moved so quickly she didn't have enough time to react. His left hand smacked the knife from hers while his right tightened around her wrist. Yanking her toward him he grabbed her upper arm in a death grip. Meredith yelped from the pain he was causing.

"Don't get smart with me! I want to know what the fuss is all about."

**Daryl's POV**

"My group is harmless. I swear."

He rolled his eyes. This kid had been spewing this crap for days. He wasn't stupid; Randall's group had shot at Rick, Glenn, and Hershel. What was to stop them from attacking the farm?

"How many are there?" Randall shot him a helpless look. Rearing back Daryl threw his first against the side of the kids face. His knuckles left a deep gash across Randall's face.

Looking down Daryl stared at his bloody and bruised fist. Meredith wasn't going to be happy when she found out he'd been interrogating their prisoner again. He didn't understand why her and Carol were so set on trying to stop him. This was what Rick wanted.

When Randall still refused to talk Daryl picked up a rusty pair of pliers. Tossing them between his hands he watched the nervous eyes before him follow the motion. The color drained from Randall's face.

"I ain't going to ask you again."

"T…They took me in. A whole group of men, woman, and kids; I just wanted to live. They gave me that chance." Daryl tossed the pliers down. Crossing his arms he motioned for the kid to continue. "The men go out and scavenge. One night we found this campsite. A man and his daughters."

Something in Daryl's stomach clenched. He didn't like where this kid's story was going. His mind wandered to the red head he'd had to save in the woods.

"They made the dad watch while they… and then they just left them there. All three of them." He was seeing red. This kid's group was worse than he thought. Randall was worse than he thought.

Turning around he watched his prisoner cower further into his chair. He could only imagine what his face must have looked like at that moment. He kept thinking about Meredith getting attacked, him having to watch and not be able to help her.

"I didn't touch those girls. I swear." Daryl wanted to punch his teeth in. He wanted to take out all the anger he'd been feeling out on him. Neither Rick or Carol would like that very much, but did he really care what they thought? Meredith would be just as pissed off. That thought was enough to stop him from beating the daylights out of the kid.

Rick was standing outside the farmhouse when Daryl finally emerged from the shed. He rubbed his hand gingerly trying to relieve some of the soreness. His eyes wandered around the camp; maybe Meredith would be willing to help clean it up again.

"What'd he say?"

"Boy there's got a gang, they roll through here our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna wish they were."

Daryl looked around the camp again. He hadn't caught sight of the familiar red hair. Meredith had been up and gone when he got up this morning. She might have returned to the tent but that was unlikely. Turning back toward Rick and Dale he frowned slightly.

"Where's Meredith."

Dale pointed towards the forest. "She said something about checking the traps."

He wasn't thrilled to hear she went into the woods by herself. Daryl knew Meredith could defend herself but the thought of her being out there alone made him uneasy. Especially after what Randall had told him. He was about to head toward the woods himself but Rick placed his hand on his shoulder.

"I want to get everyone together to talk about what to do with Randall. Be back here within the hour." Rick turned to regard Dale. "Have you seen Shane?"

Again Dale pointed to the forest. "He went that way about twenty minutes ago."

Daryl stomped toward the forest. Something about the way Dale had looked at him gave him the feeling he should be worried that Shane and Meredith were in the forest together. He knew Meredith didn't like being around Shane but he'd never given it another thought.

Just as he was about to hit the tree line a figure emerged. Shane was limping his way out of the forest. He had his hand resting gingerly around the front of his jeans. When he caught sight of Daryl he quickly pulled his hand away. There was a small cut near the side of his face. Narrowing his eyes Daryl gave him a suspicious glare.

"What happened to ya?"

"I fell." He didn't believe Shane for a second but he wasn't going to confront him; at least not yet. He wanted to make sure Meredith was ok. If anything had happened to her… Daryl pushed away any of those thoughts. There was no reason for him to be jumping to conclusions.

Daryl followed Meredith's path through the forest. She'd hit most of the traps he'd set; she had done a pretty good job resetting them. To say he was impressed with how quickly she learned to hunt and track would be an understatement. It was unbelievable how quickly she was able to catch on.

A flash of red caught his attention. Turning toward the movement Daryl found Meredith crouching down. She was picking something up from the ground. He couldn't see her face from where he was standing but the way she held her body indicated something was wrong. A twig snapped as he stepped into the clearing. With a gasp she spun around with the gun he'd given her pointed right at him.

Raising his hands he stepped back slightly. "Whoa there Red. I ain't going to hurt you."

Meredith cringed when he called her Red. What had happened while she was out here? She never really cared that he called her that, unless she was pissed at him. Relief flashed through her eyes when she realized it was just him. Holstering her gun she turned away from him to finished picking up what he realized was her knife.

"Don't call me tha'."

"What's wrong?"

She turned to give him a guarded look. "Nothing." Reaching up Meredith ran her hand through her hair. He caught sight of a bruise forming on her knuckle.

"That don't look like nothing to me."

Nodding his head toward her hand he waited for her to say something. He watched her glance down at the bruise for several seconds. A strange look sat on her face. Daryl had a feeling the bruise on her hand was connected to the cut on Shane's face. He could feel his temper starting to rise but he had to hear it from her. Hear that the police officer had done something.

"Tis nothing, Ah smacked it on something." Daryl narrowed his eyes. He wasn't stupid. It pissed him off that she thought he was. Taking a deep breath he stepped closer to her. Reaching out he took her hand in his and brought it closer so he could inspect the bruise better. There was no doubt it was caused from hitting someone.

"I ain't stupid Meredith. What did Shane do to ya?" He could tell she was trying to figure out how he knew. Her frown deepened as she pulled her hand away from him. Meredith turned her back on him. Daryl couldn't help but feel slightly hurt that she was pushing him away. It was rare for her to act like this.

"T'wasn't anything Ah couldn't handle."

He felt like he was going to explode. All of the anger he'd been pushing down came rearing up. His suspicions had been right; Shane tried to hurt her; someone from their own group. Clenching his fists Daryl couldn't stop them from shaking.

"I'm gonna kill him." Turning he started to storm back toward the farm. He was going to get a hold of the police officer and make him pay. No one was going to hurt her. Ever.

Daryl paused when he felt a hand tighten around his arm. Meredith was trying to pull him back. She wasn't strong enough to stop him completely but it was enough to cause him to slow down.

"Just leave 't. Ah handled 'im just fine."

Regardless of what she said he couldn't stop picturing what Shane had tried to do. He actually didn't know what happened but he doubted it was just an argument that went too far. The thought of Shane putting his hands on Meredith caused his blood to boil. He had no right to touch her that way. No right to think of her that way.

"Don't matter. I'm gonna find him and I'm gonna kill him."

"Daryl stop!" Spinning around he shot her an angry look. Why was she stopping him? He threw his hands in the air.

"He had no right to hurt you! Why you trying to stop me?"

Meredith brought her thumb to her mouth. She was starting to pick up on his bad habits. Glancing around the clearing she shrugged. "How come you care? Ah defended mahself. Tis over."

Biting on the inside of his cheek he avoided eye contact with her. Why did he care so much? They were friends and friends cared about each other, right? Daryl knew in the back of his mind it was more than that. He'd been trying to push down the way she made him feel for a while.

Taking a deep breath he turned toward her. She was staring up at him with a curious look. It caused his stomach to jolt like it always did when she was around. Reaching out Daryl placed his hand on the back of her neck. Before Meredith could respond he did something very unlike himself.

**Meredith's POV**

The last thing Meredith expected was for Daryl to kiss her. She'd been just as surprised when she kissed him back. His lips were soft against hers, a lot softer than she'd expected. She started to place her hands around the back of his neck but it was like her touch burned him.

She stumbled back slightly when he pushed away from her. Her face started to heat up at the thought of what they'd just done. Daryl seemed to be fighting a similar feeling. Meredith could see the pink coloring his cheeks.

"D…" Casting her a startled look he turned and took off for the farm. Sighing she ran a hand through her hair. What the hell was that?

"What were you and Daryl doing?"

Meredith started. Spinning around she saw Carl giving her a funny look. Resting her hand on her chest she tried calming her heart.

"Tis not nice t' sneak up on people Carl. Why are you out here?"

He shrugged. She could tell he was hiding something. "I was taking a walk."

Placing her hand around his shoulder she started steering him toward the farm. "Well tis time t' get back then. Don't want your Ma t' worry."

"You didn't answer my question." Glancing down at him she smiled softly. He reminded her a lot of his father.

"We were just talking."

The look in Carl's eyes gave her the feeling he didn't believe her. Instead of pushing, the twelve year old let her continue to lead him back toward the camp. Lori came sprinting out of the tent a few seconds before they reached it. Her eyes flashed when she saw Carl.

"Carl what did I tell you about wandering off?"

Meredith felt bad for him. He had probably just wandered after her curious about what she was doing. Ruffling his hair slightly she gave Lori an apologetic look.

"'Twas mah fault Lori. Ah took Carl with me n' didn't occur t' me t' tell you. Ah'm sorry."

Lori gave her a relieved smile. She ushered Carl into their tent before turning back toward Meredith. The twelve year old shot her a quick thank you before he disappeared into the tent. She let a breath out when she realized the other woman wasn't angry with her.

"Thank you Meredith. I know he get's bored easily. There's going to be a meeting in the house about what to do with Randall. It starts in a few minutes."

Meredith followed Lori into the house. Everyone was already sitting around the living room. Her eyes quickly sought out Daryl; he was leaning against the far wall glaring toward Shane. When he noticed she'd walked in his attention quickly turned to the floor. Shane had been glaring back at the red neck but his glare had turned toward her.

She chose to sit on the edge of the couch near Dale and Glenn. The room felt very somber. Rick was the first to talk.

"We need to decide what to do with Randall."

Shane ran a hand over the top of his head. "What's there to decide? We know what we gotta do."

"If people believe we should spare him, I want to know." Rick glanced around the room. Everyone was looking toward the floor, except for Dale.

"Me and Glenn …"

Glenn shifted to give the older man a guilty look. "Actually I'm with them on this. He's dangerous."

Standing Dale looked around the room. He tried making eye contact with anyone but they wouldn't meet his gaze. Finally his eyes landed on Meredith. She was giving him a sympathetic look. She really understood where he was coming from but Shane and Glenn were right. They needed to protect themselves from anything dangerious

"We've lost too much to do this. Meredith you have to agree with me." Glancing away she bit on the inside of her thumb.

Shane stepped forward. "He's just going to be another mouth to feed."

"We... we could ration. Put him to work."

Crossing her arms Lori came to stand near Rick. "We can't let him wander around. I won't feel safe with him still on this farm.

"We all know what need's to be done." Shane threw his hands in the air. "We can't risk our people!"

"Dale's right." All heads shot toward Andrea. She'd been the last person they all thought would agree with him. "We should find another way."

Meredith glanced around the group. This wasn't an easy decision by far but would they all have the nerve to decide to do it? Was this the right decision? Her mind started to wander. A few people had begun to argue over what to do but she wasn't listening. The man she'd killed came into view. He was standing near the back wall where Daryl was leaning. The bullet wound still sat on his forehead. His words echoed in her mind.

"_What good is saving humanity when all you gonna do is kill it off?"_

Looking straight at Rick she gave him a hard look. He nodded waiting for her to speak. "Every time we kill another person we're killing our humanity. What good is surviving when we become worse than th' monsters we're fighting? We're becoming th' monsters."

Dale gave her an appreciative look. He turned back toward the group only to see the same looks as before. It didn't matter what was said; their minds were made. A frown appeared on his face. Standing up he gave them a broken look.

"Are y'all gonna watch, too? No you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget we're slaughtering a human being." Meredith flinched at his words. It seemed most of the group did. "I won't be a party to it. This group _is_ broken." Casting them all a final look he stormed out of the house.

Meredith followed Dale outside. He was holding his rifle and was heading toward the field next to the barn. Jogging slightly she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Ah'm sorry things didn't go your way Dale."

"We're broken Meredith. This group can't function."

"What are we t' do?" Dale only shrugged. He gave her a small smile before walking away. Meredith had a bad feeling.

She was tired. The day had been a long one, she just wanted to lie down and forget it all happened. Well not all of it. Her mind wandered to her kiss with Daryl. She wanted to talk to him about it but he was never one to talk about emotions. Had it just been a spur of the moment kind of thing? What did this mean for them?

Daryl was already at the tent by the time she made it there. Giving him a curious look she closed the flap. "Tis done already?"

Shaking his head he put his crossbow down. "Carl showed up. Rick wouldn't do it with him there."

Meredith stepped slowly toward him. She had to approach the topic carefully if she wanted to avoid scaring him away. Chewing on the inside of her thumb she gave him an anxious look.

"Yer picking up my bad habits." Frowning she gave him a questioning look. When he pointed to her thumb she dropped it sheepishly.

"Ah want t' talk about earlier Daryl." Rubbing the back of his neck he looked anywhere but at her. It was nice to know he was just as uncomfortable as she was.

"Ain't nothing to talk about; just forget anything happened." Meredith frowned. She was slightly hurt by his comment. It had to have meant something didn't it? Daryl wasn't the type to do things like that and not mean them. Was he?

"Is tha' what you want t' do?"

She tilted her head slightly waiting for him to look at her. Meredith wouldn't accept any answer he gave unless he was looking at her. Her mother always told her the answers lie in the eyes. After several minutes Daryl finally brought his eyes up toward hers. He looked confused. Meredith knew he didn't want to forget about it. Regardless of how he acted there had to be something there. People just didn't go around kissing other people; at least they didn't in Scotland.

Taking a deep breath she stepped closer to him. Daryl narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. He continued to watch her move toward him. Reaching up Meredith wrapped her fingers around the edge of his vest. She could feel him stiffen slightly. She pulled his vest causing him to lean closer to her. Before either of them could change their minds she closed the gap.

She was in control this time. Moving her lips against his she slid her free hand around the back of his neck. Daryl's arms wrapped around her waist pulling her closer; his hands rested in the small of her back. He was a gentle kisser, something that contradicted with his personality. Running her tongue along Daryl's bottom lip she waited for him to respond.

After a few seconds he hesitantly allowed her access. Meredith's tongue slid across his slowly. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable or scare him away. He tasted like campfire and wood. She ran her hand along the inside of Daryl's vest. He stiffened at the movement but instead of pulling away he ran a hand up the back of her shirt.

A gunshot rang out. Pulling away from each other they both turned toward the sound. Someone was screaming. Daryl grabbed his crossbow and quickly followed after Meredith. She could see a walker hunched over someone. It was too dark to tell who it was.

Some of the others were running toward the figure as well. Rick raised his gun shooting the walker in the side of the head. As it fell Meredith caught sight of Andrea leaning over the figure. She was holding their hand. The blonde was saying something to the person but she couldn't quite tell what it was. It sounded a lot like she said _'Dale.'_


	20. Chapter 20

I was hoping to get this out last week but the creative bug just wasn't there. As always enjoy! Any feedback is welcome. I haven't decided when and where I want to introduce Clementine but I did decide to put her in the story.

**redangel2463 **We're going to see a shift in the way Meredith handles losing people she cares about. You'll kind of see in this chapter.

**magiamyst** I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I'm working on the next chapter now and will hopefully have it out in the next few days.

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This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening right now. Meredith dropped to her knees and grabbed Dale's free hand. He was lying on the ground with a large hole where the walker had dug its hands. Blood was spilling everywhere. His intestines were hanging down his side. The smell of the iron turned her stomach.

"Hang on, Dale, Hang on." She looked up. Andrea was holding his other hand. She was whispering soothing words to him.

This was bad. She knew the likely hood of Dale surviving this were slim. Carl had barely made it out and he'd been shot. The older man kept looking between Meredith and Andrea. His mouth moved but no words came.

"Dale can you here me? Tis going t' be ok." His eyes stared up at her. She could see the pain. Meredith turned toward the group. They were all standing there in shock.  
"Do something! Find Hershel!"

Rick ran his hand through his hair. He glanced around the group frantically. His eyes landed on Meredith. There had to be something they could do.

"Can we move him?"

Hershel stepped through the crowd. He looked down at Dale with a sad look. She knew that look. There was no hope. "He won't make the trip."

Rick wasn't ready to give up. He turned to Hershel. "You have to do the operation here."

Meredith turned back toward Dale. His face had paled considerably. He was breathing in short breaths. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes. This was bad. She squeezed his hand tightly. He wouldn't die alone; not like Jim or Sophia.

"Glenn, get back to the house! Grab Hershel's things!"

Hershel shook his head. "Rick…"

"No!" Rick shook his head. He looked down at Dale. She could see the helplessness in his eyes. What were they going to do?

Dale started convulsing. Turning her attention back to him Meredith tightened her grip on his hand. She could feel tears falling down her cheeks. This shouldn't be happening. Why was this happening?

"He's suffering. Do something!" Andrea turned to Rick. She was pleading with him. They had to do something. They couldn't just let him suffer.

Looking up Meredith made eye contact with Daryl. He was standing over Rick's shoulder watching the scene unfold. When their eyes locked she nodded. They both knew what needed to be done. Dale shouldn't have to suffer. Breaking eye contact with her Daryl looked down.

He raised his gun and pointed it at Dale. Meredith dropped her head so she could look at the man lying before her. He was staring back at Daryl; when he hesitated Dale nodded his head telling him it was ok.

"I'm sorry brother." The gunshot echoed through the field. She could feel the warm blood spraying up.

Andrea stayed kneeling over Dale's dead body. Meredith couldn't do it. She had to get out of there. The warm blood made her stomach jolt. This wasn't how things were supposed to be. She stumbled back away from Dale's body. Not looking at anyone she took off back toward the farmhouse.

"It's my fault." Stopping Meredith turned to see Carl walking up behind her. Had he been out there through the whole thing?

She wiped the blood and tears off her face. He shouldn't have to see someone else's blood all over her. Carl was still only a child; even if he didn't act like it.

"Wha' are you talking about Carl?"

"That walker got loose because of me. I found it stuck in the swamp."

Her stomach dropped. "When were you out in th' swamp?"

Turning away from her Carl peered toward the forest. She could see the tears threatening to fall. "Right before I found you."

This was worse than she thought. Dale was dead and Carl was blaming himself. It didn't help that she'd lied for him earlier. Everything was coming back to bite her in the ass.

Kneeling down Meredith placed her hands on his shoulders. She mustered up the best smile she could which ended up looking more like a grimace. "Tis not your fault Carl. Nothing you did or didn't do caused this t' happen. Do you understand?"

She waited until he nodded his head. Pulling him close she wrapped her arms tightly around the child before her. Carl quickly wrapped his small arms around her. Meredith could feel him shaking as the tears finally started to fall.

"You'll be ok Carl but we have t' tell your Da what you were doing."

Carl pulled away from her. Wiping his face he nodded. Neither of them wanted to admit to Rick what had actually happened but they had to. Carl wasn't her son; it wasn't her place to decide what type of punishment he should get. He knew he wasn't allowed in the forest alone.

"Get some sleep, we'll do 't in th' morning."

Daryl wasn't back at the tent when she finally made it there. Almost everyone was still awake; they were either sitting outside their tents or sitting on the porch. She'd caught a glimpse of two people digging a grave near the others. She hadn't bothered to see who it was but since her tent was empty, Meredith had a good feeling Daryl was one of them.

She was glad to be alone. Being alone let her shut off the pain. Lying down she stared at the side of the tent. If she didn't feel it then she wouldn't have to deal with it. She wouldn't have to deal with another member of the group dying. They'd grown accustomed to the lifestyle they were living. Other than a few incidents they had been relatively safe until now. This was the first walker related death since they'd gotten to the farm.

By settling down they had numbed themselves to the horrors that now walked the earth. They'd let their guard down. She'd let her guard down. From the beginning Meredith had been telling herself being alone was better. She didn't have to worry about someone else getting bitten and they didn't slow her down. Maybe being away from the group was the better idea. Maybe she would be safer without the group.

Could she leave? She'd thought about it the other day with Carol. Things were different now; she'd grown close to people again. That hadn't happened since Lila. There was also Daryl to think about. She didn't know what was going to happen after tonight but was she willing to give it up?

Meredith turned to look at the front of the tent when she heard the flap unzipping. She didn't say anything as Daryl climbed in. He looked a thousand years older. Losing Dale was hurting more than just her. His blue eyes sought out hers as soon as the tent was closed.

"We're having a funeral in the morning."

She only nodded at his comment. She didn't want to talk about Dale. She didn't want to voice it out loud. It made it real. There was too much death around them.

"D' you think we're safe here Daryl?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes. He was processing her question. "As safe as we'll be anywhere."

"Have you ever thought about going away? Leaving th' group?" She sat up and crossed her legs. Daryl continued to stare at her. The longer he was quiet the deeper the frown on his face got.

"You gonna leave now? Just take off?" Meredith didn't miss the hurt in his voice. He thought she wanted to leave with out him. She'd never do that.

"Ah didn't mean 't that way Daryl."

His shoulders relaxed slightly. Setting his crossbow down he sat down next to her. They stayed quiet for several minutes. She was lost in thought about what was going to happen to them. Were they safe? What was going to happen tomorrow? There were too many 'what ifs' running through her head. What if a herd came through? What if Shane lost it and went on a rampage? What if something happened to Glenn or Daryl?

"Who's Lila?" She started at his question. Turning Meredith gave him a curious look. Daryl bit on the inside of his thumb. "The night you woke up from that nightmare … you mentioned her."

She took a deep breath. Nobody knew about Lila. It was easier for her to just push it away. Talking about it caused too much pain. She just wanted to put everything painful and hide it. Never think about it. Never talk about it. Just forget.

"Lila was mah roommate." Rubbing her hands together Meredith took a deep breath. She could already feel the emotions bubbling up. "Ah was sleeping after a late night at th' pub. Lila came into mah room but she wasn't normal. There was a large chunk missing from her arm. She was groaning. Ah thought she wanted help but when she saw me …" Her breath hitched slightly. "… Ah barely got away. Ah had to beat her skull in wit' a lamp."

Reaching out Daryl placed his hand on her shoulder. Blinking rapidly she pushed the emotions back down. She stood up abruptly. Running her hands through her hair Meredith walked toward the front of the tent. She didn't want to think about Lila anymore. She didn't want to think about Dale anymore.

Daryl was giving her a guarded look. She'd hurt his feelings by pushing his hand away. Comforting someone wasn't what he was used to. She was too emotionally exhausted to deal with this right now.

"Ah just need to be alone right now. Ah'm sorry." He didn't respond. Lying back Daryl stared up at the ceiling. For a minute she felt bad. She shouldn't have pushed him away. They had to talk about this new territory they were in.

Instead of saying anything Meredith climbed out of the tent. She just had to get away from all the emotions. She didn't want to feel anything. Not anymore. It was too hard. Getting too close made it hurt more when they died. Eventually everyone was going to die. There was nothing they could do. No hope.

She found herself walking toward the graves. It was the last place Meredith wanted to go to but her feet wouldn't listen to her. As she got closer a tall figure became clear at the base of the rock mound. Rick was standing with his hands tucked into his pockets. He peered at her from the corner of his eye.

"This is my fault."

"Tis no one's fault Rick. 't could have happened t' any o' us."

"Dale wouldn't have gone out there if he wasn't upset with us; with me. He didn't want Randall to die."

She turned to fix him with a stern look. "Th' group voted. They made their decision; Dale would have come t' terms with tha' or he wouldn't have. You can't blame yourself for wha' happened."

"I feel like every decision I make is the wrong one." Turning away from Dale's grave Rick peered around the farm. Most of the group had finally ventured into their tents. Andrea was sitting on top of the RV staring out into the trees. Her face was hard, emotionless.

"You make th' hard decisions Rick. Someone has t'. Sometimes they work out 'n sometimes they don't. You can't be blamed for tha'." Resting her hand on Rick's arm she waited until he turned to look at her. "You need t' talk t' Carl. He's blaming himself for wha' happened."

"Why would he blame himself?"

"He said he saw th' walker near th' swamp earlier today but he didn't tell anyone."

A frown line appeared across Rick's forehead. "Lori said he was with you in the forest."

Biting on her bottom lip Meredith looked down. She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Ah thought Carl had just followed me out there. Ah didn't know he'd gone on his own. Ah didn't want him getting in trouble for following me so Ah covered for him."

She waited for him to get angry, to start yelling. When it didn't happen she peered up at him. Rick was staring out into the tree line with a frown. After several minutes he turned to look at her.

"Carl wants to be treated like an adult but he still has a lot to learn. Thank you Meredith for telling me." He started walking back toward the tents. His shoulders sagged slightly. The leadership was really starting to weigh down on him. She wasn't sure how much longer he could last before he finally snapped.

* * *

Meredith stood near the barn watching the funeral unfold. She'd volunteered to keep watch on Randall while everyone went to pay their respects. It wasn't that she didn't want to be there; she wanted to say goodbye to Dale but on her own terms. By herself where no one could see her if she broke down.

Stifling a yawn she leaned against the barn wall. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before. After talking to Rick Meredith sat on the RV with Andrea. Neither woman spoke. It was comforting to just sit there. Just to have someone near them that didn't want to talk about what happened.

After the funeral ended the group started breaking apart. Lori led Carl back toward the tent. She didn't look too happy with her son; Meredith assumed Rick had told her about Carl's adventures in the forest. She hoped the mother wasn't angry with her. Carol followed Maggie and Beth back into the house. She'd been familiarizing herself with the household. They'd be moving in soon. Winter would be there before they knew it.

Her eyes landed on Shane stomping toward her. The frown on her face deepened. She really wasn't in the mood to be dealing with him. A small bruise had formed around the cut she'd made when she hit him the day before. His eyes darkened when he saw her.

"You can go. I got this."

Pushing off the barn Meredith brushed passed him without saying a word. She was afraid she'd say something to set him off or vise versa. Getting into a fight with him wasn't really what she had planned for the day.

She was walking toward Dale's grave when Rick intercepted her. He motioned for her to follow him. Shooting the grave one last look she turned to follow their leader. Rick led her toward the backside of the farmhouse. He had his hands tucked in his pockets as he stared out into the distance.

"We're letting Randall go today. It's what Dale would have wanted and I want to honor his wishes."

Meredith followed his gaze. T-Dog was doing a perimeter check. It seemed they were finally getting ready to winterize the farm. "Ah think tha' is very honorable o' you Rick."

"Shane's not happy about it. I'm taking Daryl with me offsite with Randall. I've asked Andrea too keep an eye on things but can you help her?"

"Aye. Ah'll make sure things run smoothly while you're gone."

After Rick left to help move things into the farmhouse she wandered over to the RV. It seemed Andrea was taking over Dale's job of keeping watch during the day. She was sitting on the edge of the vehicle with a shotgun in her hand. Her eyes never left the tree line.

"He was always a nosey bastard."

"Ah admired Dale for who he was. He cared for you Andrea. He cared for us all."

Shifting so she could look at Meredith Andrea gave her a soft smile. "Do you think we're doing the right thing with Randall?"

She thought about the blonde's question. Were they doing the right thing? Dale had been right when he said they had to fight for their humanity. Could they trust what he said? What would Randall do once they let him go?

"Ah'm not sure what th' right answer is. This is what Dale wanted 'n Ah think tis good that Rick is doing this."

"I didn't go to the funeral. I couldn't; something about it made it too final."

"Aye. Ah couldn't either. Ah'll visit with 'im later. When th' time is right."

Meredith glanced over at the barn. She could see Daryl walking toward the shed they were keeping Randall in. It must be time for them to take the kid into the forest. Shane wasn't standing where she'd left him. Frowning she searched around the farm. Where had he gone? It wasn't like Shane to just leave his post; especially when it came to Randall.

"Andrea have you seen Shane?"

Turning to give her a curious look, Andrea shook her head. "I haven't seen him since this morning. Why?"

She had a bad feeling; a few seconds later Daryl stormed out of the shed. The look on his face confirmed her suspicions. Meredith started climbing down the side of the RV quickly. Andrea leaned over to shoot her a strange look.

"Meredith what's wrong?"

"Ah don't know. Something is off."

By the time she made it out to the barn Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog were already standing around Daryl. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on when a shout drew their attention to the forest. Shane limped out of the trees with blood gushing from a cut on his face. Rick rushed over to help his friend walk.

"He's got my gun! Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face."

Moving quickly Rick turned toward the group. "T-Dog get everyone in the house. Glenn, Daryl, Meredith come with us."

Nodding she followed them to the tree line. Daryl instantly started searching the ground for any signs of where Randall had gone. She kept a weary eye on Shane; something about the situation was giving her a bad feeling. There was a look in the police officers eye that made her feel he wasn't being truthful. Daryl must have been thinking the same thing. He shot Shane a suspicious look.

"Kid weighs a buck-25 soaking wet. You trying to tell us he got the jump on you?"

Shane narrowed his eyes. "I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?"

There was definitely something wrong. She could tell it and she had a feeling Daryl could too. Shaking his head Rick stepped between them. He shot them both aggravated glances warning them to knock it off.

"Daryl, you and Glenn start heading up the right flank. Me and Shane'll take the left." Pausing Rick glanced at Meredith. She knew the look he was giving her. He didn't believe Shane either. Nodding her head she pulled her gun from its holster. "Meredith will come with us."

Shane didn't look happy with Rick's decision but he didn't voice it out loud. Her and Daryl made eye contact before they split off. There was something in the way he looked at her that made Meredith's stomach jolt. They were going to have to talk when she got back.

"Looks like he got you good."

"Don't worry about me."

Meredith stayed a few feet behind both police officers. She kept an eye out for any walkers that might try to sneak up on them. Her eyes also searched the ground for any signs of Randall coming that way. Though she had the feeling he wasn't going to be out here. The longer they walked the more she got the idea this was a trap. Maybe it was the way Shane kept glancing at Rick or how his story didn't make sense but she knew something was going down.

They broke through the trees into a clearing. It was about half a mile from the farm. She could faintly see the outline of the barn and house in the dying sunlight. Tightening her grip on her gun Meredith turned to see Rick and Shane facing each other. This wasn't good. She stayed back but kept her weapon ready should Rick need her help.

"You say he got you with a rock?"

Shane narrowed his eyes. "That's what I said."

A thought occurred to her. Tilting her head slightly she fixed the man with a stern look. "He attacked you inside th' shed?"

Rick nodded. "Cause the door was shut when Daryl rolled up."

She could see it in his eyes. His story was coming undone. Shane ran his hand over the top of his head. He glanced between Rick and Meredith. She could only describe the look in his eye one way. Crazy.

Holstering his gun Rick turned away from Shane. "So this is where you planned to do it?"

"It's a good place as any."

"At least have the balls to call this what it is, Murder."

Meredith took a step toward Shane. She had to stop him from trying to hurt Rick. "You belief 'f you walk back on tha' farm alone they'll believe your story?"

Turning to look at her Shane rubbed his face. When he looked back at her his eyes had turned dangerous. It took everything in her not to flinch away from him. She had to stay strong.

"That's just it. It ain't no story. I saw that prisoner shoot Rick down. I ran after him. I snapped his neck. It ain't gonna be easy, but Lori and Carl will get over him."

"N' what about me?"

He narrowed his eyes. She could see his hand starting to twitch. "Randall took you down too. Poor little Meredith didn't even see it coming." Shane's hand moved again. She could see his fingers inching toward his gun on his hip. Raising her hands Meredith pointed her gun directly at him. A small smirk pulled on the corner of his mouth. "You gonna shoot me?"

"If Ah have t'."

He started walking toward her. Taking a step back she kept her gun trained on him. Her eyes peered over his shoulder to Rick. The police officer was staring at his best friend with a hard look. He was conflicted; she could see it. Shane was losing it. He was willing to kill Rick just to steal his family. That was a lot for someone to process.

"You see Meredith, I don't think you will. I don't think you have the guts to do it."

Resting her finger on the trigger she took another step back. "You'll be surprised t' hear what Ah have the guts t' do. Stay back."

Laughing Shane lunged toward her. Falling back she pulled the trigger. The bullet grazed the side of his head. Grunting he fell next to her. Meredith started pulling herself to her feet. She stumbled away from him as he jumped back to his feet. Narrowing his eyes he reached out for her arm.

"Shane no!"

Everything happened quickly. Rick grabbed Shane's left arm. The momentum spun the dark haired man around. She couldn't see what was happening but the look on Rick's face gave her an idea. He looked pained, not physically but emotionally; a few seconds later Shane slumped to the ground. Blood dripped from the knife in Rick's hand.

Kneeling down he gave Shane a broken look. "This was you, not me! You did this to us!"

Meredith placed her hand on his shoulder. He continued to look down at what was left of his best friend. "Ah'm sorry Rick."

When he didn't respond she backed away to give him privacy. She could only imagine how he was feeling. Killing Lila was different; she'd already been dead. Rick had to kill a living person, his partner, and his best friend. She turned around to allow him to mourn without someone watching. Her eyes widened when they landed on Carl standing a few feet away.

"Carl wha' are you doing here?"

"What happened?" She glanced over her shoulder. Rick had turned when she said his son's name. The broken look on his face had deepened. He was going to have to explain to his son that Shane was dead. He was going to have to explain why Shane was dead.

"Carl, you should be back home with mom." Rick moved to stand next to her. He'd put his knife away to hide the blood from Carl.

Instead of answering Carl pulled his gun out. He was looking at Rick with a frightened expression. Raising his hands the police officer tried taking a step toward his son. Meredith looked at the scene in disbelief. Was Carl going to kill his father, because of Shane? Everything was fucked up. What were they going to do?

"Carl put the gun down. It's not what it seems." Tears starting streaming down the twelve year olds face. He kept his gun drawn. She could see his finger inching toward the trigger.

She lunged toward him to stop him from firing. "Carl, don't!" As her hand tightened around his wrist the gun went off with a loud bang. She froze when the sound of a body hitting the ground followed the gunshot.

She turned slowly afraid of what she was going to see. To her surprise Rick was still standing there. His face had lost most of its color. He'd been afraid his son was going to shoot him. She'd thought he was too. They all turned to look behind Rick. Shane's body was lying on the ground with a bullet hole in his face. He'd turned while they weren't looking and Carl had put him down. He hadn't been looking at his father with a frightened expression but at the walker stumbling behind them.


	21. Chapter 21

I'm really sorry for the late update! I'm on new medication that has really sapped up my creativity. I've also been really busy with work. I'm already working on the next chapter and hope to have it out by the end of the week. Thank you so much for being patient!

As always the only character that belongs to me is Meredith.

* * *

Tree branches snapped against her face. She ignored the stinging caused from the small cuts. Her lungs protested at the extended running. She didn't have time to stop; a dozen walkers were after her. She had to get away.

A walker lunged from her right. Spinning Meredith slashed at it with her knife. The momentum caused her to lose her footing. As she fell down the steep incline another latched its fingers on her leg.

The scream in her throat had barely escaped before her back smacked against the hard ground. Gasping she tried regaining her breath. Snarling reached her ears. Looking down at her feet her eyes landed on the rotting face of the walker that had followed her down.

**Earlier**

_Meredith climbed quickly up the ladder after Carl. They'd been on their way back to the farmhouse when the groaning reached their ears. She hadn't expected to see the large herd following after them. _

_Rick was quick to react. He motioned for them to run to the barn. They needed to get to high ground. Carl was standing near the edge of the loft when she made it to the top. He'd been given strict orders to set the building on fire after Rick's signal. They were going to lead the walkers away from the farmhouse. Give the others a chance to get away. _

"_Come on! Come on!" She could hear Rick yelling; drawing the walkers toward the entrance of the barn. _

_The door flew open revealing the police officer along with several walkers. More than any of them could take on at once. Once enough were inside Rick rushed to the ladder. He climbed up while yelling for Carl to drop the lighter. The barn instantly caught fire. _

"_Rick wha' are we going t' do?" Glancing outside Rick stared down at the number of walkers surrounding the barn; the fire hadn't attracted all of them. A large number still moved toward the house. _

"_We need to get to the house."_

_Nodding she followed both Grimes' out onto the balcony of the barn. They looked around frantically trying to find a way down without getting eaten alive. Meredith's head shot up at the sound of the RV rolling toward them. _

_Jimmy was in the driver seat. He pulled up along the side of the barn. Rick jumped onto the roof first. Grabbing Carl under the arms she hoisted him into his father's waiting hands. The RV started shaking. Looking down she felt her stomach drop. Some walkers had gotten through the door. She couldn't see Jimmy because of all the blood but she had a feeling the teen hadn't survived. _

"_Meredith come on!" She landed hard on the roof. Her momentum threw her forward. Rick grabbed her to keep her from tumbling over the side. _

_There was an opening near the back. Walkers hadn't made it that far yet. Rick went first again followed by Carl and Meredith. Pulling out her gun she quickly rushed after the two toward the house. Gunshots echoed through the air. She could see the others running around the back of the house. _

_A walker jumped at her. It's head exploded as the bullet from her gun blasted through it. She could feel the blood splattering across her face. The noise attracted another. Then another. It didn't matter how many she killed; there was always another. _

_Glancing around she realized she was alone. She'd managed to separate herself from Rick and Carl. Searching frantically she breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed the twelve year old jumping into one of the cars. It seemed almost everyone had managed to make it to safety. Except for her. _

_A slimy hand grabbed at her shoulder. Spinning around Meredith tried fighting off the walker. It had hold of the arm holding her gun. Reaching around she grabbed her knife. The blade sliced through the walker's skull with a pop. _

_She turned back toward the house. Daryl and Rick were the only ones left. They were both watching her with wide eyes. Rick was standing just outside the car Carl was in while Daryl had Carol on the back of his motorcycle. Her only escape was the Cherokee. Before she could get there a swarm of walkers turned toward her. _

"_Shite!" Locking eyes with Daryl she started backing away. There was no way she'd be able to take on all the walkers with just a knife and a gun. She'd run out of bullets before that happened. _

_Daryl started to climb off his bike but she shook her head. He wasn't going to die to try to save her. Something flashed across his face but she was too far to tell what it was. Taking one last look at him she turned and ran back toward the forest._

* * *

Pulling herself to her feet Meredith stared down at the dead walker. She'd managed to stick her knife through its skull before it got a bite out of her. Wiping her hands on her pants she looked around. The area looked vaguely familiar. She racked her brain trying to come up with the connection.

The sound of running water caught her attention. She took a step forward before grimacing. It felt like her ankle got twisted in the fall. The last thing she needed was for her ankle to get messed up again. Slowing her walk she continued through the trees. Her eyes landed on a very familiar creek. It was the same creek she'd lost Sophia in.

"Please b' there." If she could make it to the road she might be able to find the others. They'd all agreed to meet back at the gridlock should they get separated. She had no idea how many of them had made it off the farm, other than Carol, Rick, Carl, and Daryl. Would they even wait for her?

Staring down at the ground she followed the familiar path. The same path they'd taken when Sophia was lost. The same path they'd been on when Carl was shot. She wasn't superstitious but the path didn't seem to bode well for anyone in the group. A twig snapped to her left. Her eyes darted around waiting for whatever caused the sound to jump out. After several seconds of nothing she released the breath she was holding.

As the sun was peaking over the edge of the trees she caught sight of the road. Climbing over the railing she slumped to the ground. She could see a crowd of people huddled several cars in front of her. They were too far to tell if it was her group. Using the car to pull herself up she stumbled toward them. Carl's familiar hat came into view. Relief flooded her body. She'd found them.

Maggie was the first to see her stumbling toward them. With a gasp she ran toward the red head with a small smile. "Meredith!"

Carl ran after her when he heard her shout Meredith's name. The two wrapped their arms tightly around her. She could feel tears pushing at the back of her eyes.

"Ah was afraid Ah wouldn't find you here."

"We were going to wait as long as we could." Pulling away from Carl and Maggie she found Rick standing behind them. He was giving her a kind smile. "We need to move off the road."

Everyone started piling back into the cars. She looked around trying to find Daryl among the group. He was near the front climbing on to his motorcycle. He cast her a weary look before pulling forward. Clearly she wasn't going to be riding with him. Meredith frowned slightly. What had she done now?

"You can ride with us Meredith." Smiling softly at the child before her she patted him on the back.

"Tha' is very kind o' you Carl."

Leaning against the car window she finally let herself think about what happened yesterday. Shane finally lost it. He tried to kill Rick. He tried to kill her. All so he could claim Rick's family as his own. How messed up was that? What intrigued her most was the fact Shane had turned. He didn't die of a walker bite. How did he come back?

Rick didn't seem surprised by what happened. She made a mental note to talk to him about it later. She also wanted to talk to Daryl. Why hadn't he come over to her? He wasn't big on showing emotion, especially not in front of others. It had still hurt that he didn't even say anything to her.

Rick pulled off the road near what looked to be an old stone tower. The minute he stepped out of the vehicle he was bombarded with questions. She could see the stress in his eyes. Now wasn't really the time for this.

"Can't this wait. We have all had a rough night. We need t' rest."

Hershel shook his head. "We can't stay here."

"We can't all fit in one car. We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning."

People started huddling away from Rick. They were casting him mistrustful eyes. Almost like they blamed him for what happened. Meredith shifted so she was standing next to Rick. She gave everyone a hard look.

"We have t' stay together. Rick made a decision."

"Why should we trust this decision?" Carol had her arms wrapped around herself. She was afraid but there was a determination in her voice. "We'll freeze."

Rick ran his hand across his face. "We'll build a fire. Stay together. That's what is important."

He had a look on his face; one that said not to question him. There were a few grumbles but no one said anything. She watched Rick walked down the road a little, Daryl and Lori followed after him silently. Turning back to the group she realized they were missing a few people. Jimmy she knew was dead but Patricia and Andrea were gone too.

"Where are Patricia 'n Andrea?"

Glenn looked down at the ground slightly. "Patricia was bit. T-Dog said he saw Andrea running into the forest."

Sighing Meredith leaned against the wall behind her. In a matter of a day everything had gone to shit. Again. Dale was dead. Shane was dead. Andrea might as well be and they had nowhere to go. Her heart dropped at the thought of Dale. She didn't get to visit his grave before they left. She didn't get to say goodbye.

She watched the group huddle around each other. They looked like they were arguing about something. Every so often some one would point toward Rick. When the police officer started walking back toward them they turned to stare at him. Glenn took a small step forward.

"What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's? You know I found Randall, right? He had turned, but he wasn't bit."

Meredith started at his statement. Randall had turned without being bit too? What was going on? The look in Rick's eyes told her he knew why. He looked around the group with a defeated look.

"We're all infected. Whatever it is, we all carry it. Jenner told me."

She was dreaming. That had to be what it was. When she fell in the forest she'd knocked herself out. There was no way what Rick was saying was true. They couldn't all be infected. Meredith pinched her arm slightly hoping it would wake her up. When she found herself still standing on the side of the road her head started to spin.

A few people started raising their voices at Rick. They were angry he didn't tell them. The mistrust in their eyes only seemed to deepen. Carol and Glenn were leading the attack as they threw question after question at him.

"You never said anything?"

"Would it have made a difference?" He was right. Knowing, not knowing, why did it matter? In reality she'd felt better not knowing that she was a ticking time bomb. That it was only a matter of time before they all turned.

"That's not your call. When I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone."

"Well I thought it best that people didn't know."

Glenn opened his mouth to respond but Meredith cut in. Arguing wasn't going to get them anywhere. It was only going to attract walkers if they didn't stop. She placed her hand softly on Rick's arm letting him know she supported him.

"Rick made his decision. He was acting for th' good o' th' group. How many o' you can say you'd do th' same?" Her statement seemed to quiet most of the protests.

"How can you be sure?" Carol was giving him a hopeful look. Maybe Jenner was wrong. Meredith knew better. She'd seen it with her own eyes.

"Shane snapped Randall's neck. I … I had to kill him. He attacked Meredith. Came at me. The whole Randall escaping was a trap. I gave him every chance. That's how I knew Jenner was right."

The sun had a set hours ago. They were all huddled inside the core of what was left of the tower. Daryl and T-Dog were keeping watch near both entrances. Everyone except for Rick had huddled around the small fire they'd built. He was doing another perimeter check. He wanted to make sure everyone was safe.

"Remember when you asked me if I thought we were safe?" Meredith peered up at Carol with a curious look. "Well I don't. We're not safe with him … keeping something like that from us."

Shaking her head she pulled her hands closer to the fire. "We're as safe wit' Rick as we are anywhere else."

Turning toward them Daryl cast an annoyed look at Carol. "What do ya want?"

"A man of honor."

Hershel cleared his throat. "Rick has honor."

Meredith stood up. She didn't want to have this argument again. Rick was a good man; he was just trying his best. It was pissing her off that they were just willing to stand against him now that they weren't safe on the farm. This was reality now. Life wasn't safe anymore.

"All o' you are quick t' blame him. Rick is doing his best. You look t' him for th' answers but blame him when things don't go your way."

Something shuffled outside. Whether it was an animal, a walker, or the wind they didn't know. The group huddled closer together in fear. Carol stood up suddenly.

"We need to leave. What are we waiting for?"

"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark." They all turned to see Rick coming back through the doorway. His hand rested on the butt of his gun.

Carol shot him a dirty look. "I'm not sitting here, waiting for another herd to blow through."

"No one is going anywhere."

"Do something then!"

"I am doing something!" Meredith cast a cautious look around. They were raising their voices again. That might lead to more trouble than what it was worth. "I'm keeping this group together, alive. I didn't ask for this. I killed my best friend for you people! You saw what he was like. He gave me no choice. But maybe I'm fooling myself. You think you can do better, than go. But get one thing straight; if you're staying this isn't a democracy anymore."

She nodded her head in agreement. Looking at the group she could see a few others matching her movements. With a frightened gasp Carol sat next to the fire again.

Glancing at Daryl she caught him giving her a strange look before he turned to take guard again. Now was as good a time as any to talk to him. She leaned against he opposite wall waiting to see if he would acknowledge her. When he didn't she let out an impatient sigh.

"What did Ah do this time?"

"What makes ya think ya did anything?"

Narrowing her eyes she cast him an annoyed look. Was he really going to do this now? "You didn't seem happy t' see me stumbling out o' the forest."

He didn't respond to her statement. Meredith tried pushing down the feeling bubbling in her chest. It hurt that he was acting this way. They'd made so much progress over the last few weeks. Now he was acting like he did when they first met. Maybe she'd made up everything about the kiss. Maybe there wasn't anything more to it.

"Forget 't." She started to walk back toward the fire when he finally spoke. He was so quiet she had to step closer to him.

"I ain't good with expressing myself. Ya know that." He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "I thought ya was dead the minute ya ran into that forest."

"Honestly Ah thought Ah was too. By th' Grace o' God Ah made it Daryl. Don't push me away."

He gave her a guarded look. She could see he was still trying to work through some things. What it was she didn't know but she knew better than to question him. That would only piss him off more. Looking into the forest she let her thoughts go back to Dale.

Dale had been the one to realize Shane wasn't all there. That Shane had killed Otis and would probably kill Randall too. Her heart ached at the thought of not getting to say goodbye. In one day their little bubble of safety was gone. It was her fault the herd came. She'd been the one to fire her gun when Shane attacked her. It was her fault not Rick's but if she voiced that out loud would the group want her gone too?

"Why ya crying?" She looked at him confused. Wiping her hand across her face she realized she'd started crying thinking about everything.

"Tis nothing."

"Ain't nothing. Don't lecture me about pushing people away Meredith if that's what yer gonna do."

She looked back toward the fire. Rick had his arms wrapped tightly around Carl, keeping him warm and safe. Lori was near them but something was different between the two. Shane had caused a rift. Maggie and Glenn were holding each other too. The others stayed close for warmth. She could see Hershel silently consoling Beth. Jimmy had been her boyfriend, Patricia their friend.

"Ah didn't get t' say goodbye to Dale afore we left." Daryl chewed on the inside of his thumb silently. His eyes snapped from left to right as he stared into the forest. She'd give anything to get a glimpse into his mind.

After a few minutes he motioned for her to come closer. Tilting her head to the side Meredith was surprised when he wrapped his arm around her waist. He pulled her close to him never taking his eyes off the tree line. After a moments hesitation she wrapped her arm around his back. Her head nestled against the edge of his shoulder. This was the closest she was going to get to him expressing himself, at least for now.

**Daryl's POV**

He kept his eyes trained on the forest. It took everything in him to fight the blush that was slowly creeping up his neck. Pulling Meredith against him had been an impulse decision and he could feel the eyes behind them.

When she'd been swarmed at the farm his first instinct was to rush out there. She'd shook her head telling him no. He hadn't planned on listening but Merle's voice found it's way into his head again. Stopping him in his tracks.

"_What'd I tell ya about gettin yerself killed over a nice pair of tits?"_

By the time he'd told Merle to go to hell she'd already rushed into the forest. He couldn't follow her. The walkers that didn't chase after her came at them, drawn in by the sound of his bike. He'd had to drive away with the impression that Meredith was dead. He didn't like the way that made him feel. He'd been upset when Sophia and Dale died. To think that she was dead too nearly crippled him.

Daryl wasn't good with emotions, talking about them or expressing them. It made him uncomfortable. Meredith was the complete opposite of that. She always voiced her thoughts and if she didn't all he had to do was look in her eyes. He could tell how she was feeling by looking in her eyes. She'd gotten better about nagging him to talk to her. Instead she'd sit patiently and wait for him to come to her.

Everyone was on edge after the herd came through the farm. Carol and some of the others didn't want to follow Rick anymore. As far as he was concerned Rick hadn't done anything wrong. He wasn't going to rush off into the woods on a whim. That was only going to get them killed.

Chancing a glance down at the red head snuggled into his side he noticed her eyes starting to shut. "Ya should get some sleep."

Her dark eyes shifted to look up at him. She smiled softly trying to stifle a yawn. "Ah'll be fine. Ah don't want you t' stand here alone."

Daryl rolled his eyes. She was going to fall asleep standing. He didn't want to have to deal with that. He dropped his arm from around her. "Go on. I'll be ok. Get some rest."

He could tell she wanted to argue but after narrowing his eyes she seemed to change her mind. She shifted uncomfortably for a few minutes before stepping away from him. Her cheeks darkened slightly. He wondered what was going on in her head. His answer came when Meredith suddenly leaned forward.

She placed a soft kiss on his cheek. His eyes widened but before he could say anything she'd rushed back to the fire. Daryl stared after her shocked by her actions. His eyes landed on Carol who was giving him a knowing smile. The look on her face caused him to scowl.

Turning back toward the forest he continued to glower. What the hell was she going around kissing him in front of people for? He stuffed his hands into his pockets trying to warm his fingers. He was still coming to terms with what was going between the two of them. With Dale's death and the herd they hadn't gotten the chance to talk about the kiss, or kisses to be exact. Daryl sighed as he placed his head against the brick wall next to him. He didn't know what he was going to do.


	22. update

Hey everyone! Just a quick update since it's been forever since I've posted a new chapter. I'm hoping to be able to start posting regularly again soon. I made the mistake of trying to write two stories at once and my creativity just vanished. I'm going to be working full time on this one and plan to have a new chapter out by the end of the week. Thanks to everyone that have been following and favoriting! I see every email :)


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